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PORTO RICO CIVICS 


BY 

l/ 

FRANCISCO VIZCARRONDO, LL.B. 


Secretary of the Department of Education of Porto 
Rico and Chief of the Division of Supervision 



D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 


V 5 


Copyright, 1922, 

By D. C. Heath & Co. 

2 C 2 


/ 




© Cl. A6 81402 ' 

PRINTED IN U.S.A. 

APR 25 1922 

<v**t Y 




PREFACE 


The purpose of this little book is to offer the teachers 
of Civics organized material to aid them in the teaching 
of the structure of municipal, insular and national govern¬ 
ment. It contains brief resumes, outlines and problems 
on the municipal and organic laws of Porto Rico, and 
comparative studies in tabular form of the governments 
of the Nation and the Island and of the three organic 
laws under which Porto Rico has been governed since 
the last days of the Spanish regime. In the appendix 
will be found the complete texts of the Municipal Law 
and supplementary acts, the Jones Act (new organic law), 
the Foraker Act (old organic law), the Autonomy Chart 
(in force at the time when the sovereignty of the Island 
was transferred to the United States), the Declaration of 
Independence of the United States, the Constitution 
of the United States and Titles I and III of the Spanish 
Constitution. A Glossary of the most difficult legal 
terms used in the book and an Index complete the 
material. 

Special instructions on how to use this book will be 
found in “ Suggestions to Teachers of Civics.” 

The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to 
Mr. Ward C. McCroskey, former Secretary of the De¬ 
partment of Education, for his valuable cooperation in 
the preparation of this book. 


iii 


F. V. 






TABLE OF CONTENTS 


PART I 

The Municipal Law 

PAGE 

1. Classification of Municipalities . i 

2. Provisions Common to All Municipalities . i 

3. Special Limitations. 2 

4. Municipal Government. 6 

5. Municipal Finance. 18 

6. Grants of Lots and Lands. 23 

7. Ordinances. 26 

8. Bureau of Municipal Affairs. 28 

9. Judicial Remedies. 28 

10. Salaries. 29 

11. Establishment of Villages. 30 

12. The School District. 31 

Outline of The Municipal Law. 32 

Problems on Municipal Government. 37 

PART II 

The Organic Law 

1. The Bill of Rights. 43 

2. The Legislative Power. 46 

3. The Executive Power. 54 

4. The Judicial Power. 64 


v 





















vi TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

5. Other Insular Organizations. 67 

6. Citizenship. 69 

7. Elections. 7° 

Outline of the Organic Law. 72 

Problems on Insular Government. 80 

PART III 

The Constitution of the United States 

Senate. 87 

House of Representatives. 88 

Privileges of each House and of Members. 89 

Law Making. 90 

Powers of Legislation. 90 

Executive. 91 

Courts. 92 

Elections. 93 

President’s Cabinet. 95 

PART IV 

Comparative Study of the Organic Laws 

Legislative Branch. 96 

Upper House. 96 

Lower House. 98 

Legislative Sessions. 99 

Privileges of each House and of Members. 100 

Legislative Powers. 101 

Legislative Limitations. 103 

How Bills become Laws. 103 

Executive Branch. I0 5 

Judicial Branch. IIO 


























TABLE OF CONTENTS vii 

PAGE 

Courts.. no 

Appeals. in 

Municipal Government . in 

APPENDICES 

I. The Municipal Law. 112 

II. An Act to Provide a Method op Refunding 

Loans....„. 150 

III. Joint Resolution to Authorize and Regulate 

the Issuance of Bonds. 154 

IV. An Act Authorizing the Treasurer of Porto* 

Rico to Accept Bonds. 159 

V. An Act Authorizing the Municipalities to 

Regulate the Resale of Seats. 160 

VI. An Act Authorizing the Formation of Asso¬ 
ciations of Municipalities. 161 

VII. Joint Resolution Regulating the Sale of 

Seats in Moving-Picture Theaters. 166 

VIII. The Organic Law of Porto Rico. 168 

IX. The Foraker Act. 198 

X. The Autonomous Chart. 214 

XI. Declaration of Independence. 231 

XII. Constitution of the United States of 

America. 235 

XIII. Title III of the Spanish Constitution. 252 

XIV. Title I of the Spanish Constitution. 255 

Glossary. 259 

Index. 269 
























































SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS OF CIVICS 


The purpose of the course in Civics is to prepare the 
students for enlightened citizenship. The State gives the 
citizen protection and opportunity. The citizen owes 
the State loyalty and service. The enlightened citizen 
knows his rights and privileges and his duties and ob¬ 
ligations. A knowledge of the machinery of govern¬ 
ment is indispensable for the complete enjoyment of 
the rights of citizenship and the faithful discharge of its 
duties. 

Of course, a mere knowledge of the structure of govern¬ 
ment is not a sufficient preparation either for the enjoy¬ 
ment of the rights of citizenship or the faithful discharge 
of its duties, any more than an acquaintance with the 
human skeleton is an adequate preparation for the en¬ 
joyment of a healthy life. Teachers must not lose sight 
of this fact. 

Any attempt to require the students to memorize 
totally or partially the matter given herein will utterly 
defeat the purpose of this book. A good plan would be 
to read in class a portion of the resume first clearing up 
unusual difficulties, and then to assign a corresponding 
number of topics from the outline and a set of problems. 
Students should come to class ready to recite on the 
assigned topics and to solve, not only the assigned prob¬ 
lems, but many others which may arise from the matter 
under consideration. 


IX 


X 


SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS OF CIVICS 


A word on the problems. These problems furnish 
exercises on the practical application of the laws. They 
represent, in a limited way, a functional study of govern¬ 
ment, and they are calculated to drive home the meaning 
of the written law. The wise teacher will devote a gen¬ 
erous share of his time and effort to the solution of such 
problems as the best means of accomplishing the purpose 
of the course. It is needless to add that the problems 
contained in the book are merely suggestive and that 
teachers are expected to supplement them with many 
others. 

Occasional trips to the town-hall to observe how the 
Municipal Assembly works, and visits to such municipal 
dependencies as the hospital, the slaughterhouse, the jail, 
etc., are not only advisable but indispensable for the 
purposes of this course. Local offices of the Insular 
and Federal Governments should be visited also when¬ 
ever proper arrangements can be made. 

Part I should be covered during the first twelve weeks 
and Part II during the second twelve weeks. The re¬ 
maining sixteen weeks should be devoted to Parts III 
and IV and to a review of the entire subject. 

Teachers are urged to have at hand for constant refer¬ 
ence the latest edition of The World Almanac , James and 
Sandford’s Government of State and Nation and copies of 
the annual reports of the municipality and of the Governor 
of Porto Rico. 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 




PORTO RICO CIVICS 


PART I 

THE MUNICIPAL LAW 

The present Municipal Law was passed by the Legis¬ 
lature of Porto Rico and finally approved by the Governor 
on July 31, 1919. It took effect ninety days after its 
approval. On May 12, 1920 and, again, on July 12, 
1921, slight modifications were introduced to make its 
provisions more workable. The law as it now stands is 
more liberal than the one it replaced. It gives the local 
governments a larger share of responsibility in the ad¬ 
ministration of municipal affairs. 

1. Classification of Municipalities 

All municipalities are classified into three categories: 
First Class , all municipalities whose assessment reaches 
or exceeds eight million dollars; Second Class, all munici¬ 
palities whose assessment reaches or exceeds three million 
dollars but does not reach eight million dollars; Third 
Class, all other municipalities. 

This classification is changed every four years. 

2. Provisions Common to All Municipalities 

All municipalities have full legislative and adminis¬ 
trative powers in all matters of a purely local nature, but 

1 



2 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


these powers must be exercised subject to such laws of 
Porto Rico and the United States as are in force. No 
ordinance or resolution may be passed nor any action 
taken which in any way conflicts with any of said laws. 

The sanitation service of each municipality is directed 
by an official or inspector appointed by the Commissioner 
of Health of Porto Rico. All the expenses of this 
service are borne by the Insular Government, the mu¬ 
nicipalities contributing six (6) per cent of their net income 
for this purpose. Public cleaning, however, is managed 
directly by each municipality. 

3. Special Limitations 

The powers conferred on municipalities must be exer¬ 
cised by them, subject to the following special limitations: 

i. Public Works .— All public works must be done and 
all material must be purchased on call for bids when the 
cost value thereof exceeds five hundred dollars in munici¬ 
palities of Class I, and two hundred dollars in all other 
municipalities. 

Where materials or supplies are manufactured by only one 
firm, they may be purchased from this firm without competition, 
but the ordinance authorizing the purchase must fully state the 
reasons for this deviation from the usual procedure. 

If the supplies or materials needed cannot be obtained in 
the Island of Porto Rico, estimates must be secured from two 
or more reputable dealers and the purchases of said articles 
must be made from the aforementioned estimates, as if they 
were bids. 

When public call for bids has been made for construction work 
or for the furnishing of supplies or materials, and no bids have 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


3 


been presented, the municipality may proceed to do the work 
or to purchase supplies or materials by administration, upon the 
best terms obtainable. 

When public call for bids has been made for construction work 
or for the furnishing of supplies or materials, and the bids 
presented are, in the opinion of the Council of Administra¬ 
tion, exorbitant, the Council may reject all said bids and 
proceed to do the work or to purchase the supplies or 
materials by administration, upon the best terms obtain¬ 
able. The amount paid for such work, supplies or materials 
must in no case exceed the amount of the lowest bid. 
However, for the preparation of plans, estimates and specifi¬ 
cations of municipal public works, the municipality may 
freely contract the services of a graduate engineer or archi¬ 
tect from a school or university of recognized good standing, 
provided the fee paid him does not exceed three and one-half 
per cent of the amount estimated for the construction of the 
work. 

When the Council of Administration of any municipality 
has to call for bids for the sale or lease of any property, pur¬ 
chase of articles or materials, or for any service other than the 
hire of professional services or of public works, the proceedings 
therefor are as follows: The Council of Administration, through 
an ordinance duly adopted, states the exact nature of the opera¬ 
tion, specifying in detail any or all requirements relative thereto 
to be fulfilled and authorizes such call for bids. 

The ordinance must fix the hour and place for receiving the 
bids, the exact hour for closing the call therefor and the time 
of opening the same, and a commission must be designated 
therein, composed of the Commissioner of Public Service, 
Police and Prisons, another member of the Council of Adminis¬ 
tration and the Municipal Secretary, who constitute a Board of 
Award for publicly opening the bids, pass upon the same and 
make the award to the best bidder. 


4 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Upon approval of the ordinance, a copy thereof must be 
posted, by way of notice, in at least five conspicuous places of 
the municipality, and it must also be published in a newspaper 
of general circulation for at least two days during the ten days 
immediately preceding the date fixed for the closing of the 
bids. 

On the date fixed for the opening of the bids the Board of 
Award must meet at the place designated in the ordinance and 
proceed at once to open the bids and award the contract to the 
best bidder. In case that two or more persons have submitted 
bids equally advantageous, verbal bids may be received during 
the half hour following the opening of bids. Only such persons 
as have submitted the most advantageous bids may take part 
in the verbal bidding. 

The Board of Award has a right to reject any or all bids, in 
which case the Council of Administration may issue a call for 
new bids, or take such action in the matter as seems best to the 
interests of the municipality without further competition. 

Whenever a call for bids has been issued and no bids are re¬ 
ceived, the Council of Administration may dispose of the 
matter in the form most convenient to the municipality. 

2. Rate of Interest .— No municipal indebtedness may be 
contracted at a higher rate of interest than seven (7) per 
cent per annum. However, in the case of loans for five 
years or less, and when the public needs of the munici¬ 
pality so require it, municipalities may contract loans 
with a bank or banking house or with private individuals 
at a rate of interest higher than seven (7) per cent per 
annum but not exceeding eight (8) per cent per annum. 

3. Loans .— (a) No loan may be authorized unless 
provision is made for the receipts necessary for the re¬ 
demption of principal and interest. Said receipts must 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 5 

constitute a special or trust fund which may not be used 
for any other purpose whatever. 

(b) No loan may be authorized unless the ordinance or 
resolution providing for same specifies the works to be 
constructed and the estimate for each. The funds appro¬ 
priated for a specific work cannot be transferred to another 
work without the approval of the Assembly. Surpluses in 
any work, however, may be transferred, and the expenses 
incurred for survey and preparation of estimates of the 
said works may be reimbursed to the regular funds of the 
municipalities out of the funds of the loan. 

4. Jurisdiction. — The jurisdiction of municipalities is 
circumscribed to their territorial limits. 

5. Disposal of Property. — No municipal property may 
be sold, leased, mortgaged, encumbered or otherwise dis¬ 
posed of except at public sale unless otherwise expressly 
authorized in the Municipal Law; nor may any such 
property be exchanged except by resolution of two-thirds 
of the members of the Municipal Assembly. 

6. Amount of Indebtedness. — No municipality may con¬ 
tract indebtedness the amount of which at the time of 
contracting thereof, including all outstanding indebted¬ 
ness, exceeds ten (10) per cent of the total value at which 
the taxable real and personal property in the municipality 
were assessed at the last assessment made for the levying 
of insular taxes prior to the creation of the debt. 

7. Inspection Expenses. — In no case may the inspection 
expenses of any public work exceed fifteen (15) per cent 
of the total cost of said work. 


6 


PORTO RICO* CIVICS 


4. Municipal Government 

The government of each municipality is vested in a 
Municipal Assembly and a Council of Administration. 

The Municipal Assembly 

Membership .— At all general elections the voters of 
each municipality elect a Municipal Assembly which con¬ 
sists of thirteen (13) members in municipalities of the first 
class, nine (9) members in municipalities of the second 
class, and seven (7) members in municipalities of the third 
class. No voter has the right to vote for more than nine 
(9) delegates to the Municipal Assembly in municipalities 
of the first class, for more than seven (7) in municipalities 
of the second class or for more than five (5) in municipali¬ 
ties of the third class. General elections are held every 
four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of 
November. 

Qualifications of Members .— Members of the Municipal 
Assembly must: 

1. Be citizens of the United States. 

2. Be over twenty-one years of age. 

3. Be qualified voters of the municipality. 

4. Have resided in the municipality for a period of not 
less than one year. 

5. Know how to read and write. 

6. Not have served sentence for a felony or for a crime 
involving moral turpitude, nor have been removed from 
any public office for delinquency or immoral conduct. 

Meetings .— The Municipal Assembly holds its inaugu¬ 
ral session on the second Monday in January after each 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


7 


general election. At this session a president and a vice- 
president are elected by secret ballot from the member¬ 
ship of the Assembly and rules and regulations, in accor¬ 
dance with recognized principles of parliamentary law, 
are adopted for the conduct of the meetings. The first 
regular session is held on the first Monday after the first 
Tuesday of the month of March of each year. This meet¬ 
ing may not last longer than fifteen (15) consecutive days 
in municipalities of the first class, ten (10) consecutive 
days in municipalities of the second class, and five (5) 
consecutive days in municipalities of the third class, ex¬ 
cluding Sundays and legal holidays. Special sessions may 
be held at the request of a majority of the members of the 
Assembly or of the Council of Administration, but no 
special session may last longer than five (5) consecutive 
working-days in towns of the first class, three (3) consecu¬ 
tive working-days in towns of the second class, and two 
(2) consecutive working-days in towns of the third class. 

Quorum .— The majority of the total number of the 
members of the Municipal Assembly constitutes a quorum. 

Place of Meeting .— All sessions of the Municipal Assem¬ 
bly must be public and they must be held in the municipal 
town hall. 

Compulsory Attendance .— When it becomes impossible 
to hold any session of the Assembly for lack of quorum, 
the members present may compel the absentees to appear, 
by issuing a written order to any marshal or bailiff of any 
insular or municipal court for the arrest and conduction 
of such absentees to the session hall, save in case of physi¬ 
cal disability satisfactorily proven. If, notwithstanding 
the arrest, any member insists on absenting himself, his 


8 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


office is declared vacant and he is disqualified to hold any 
public office whatever in Porto Rico for a period of four 
years. v 

Absences .— If any member of the Assembly is absent 
from the municipality during a term of its session, with¬ 
out justified cause, the remaining members thereof may 
declare his office vacant by resolution to that effect. 

Resignations .— Members of the Municipal Assembly 
may resign their offices by tendering their resignations to 
the Assembly, which has the power to decide thereon. 

Vacancies .— Vacancies in the Municipal Assembly are 
filled by the Assembly with persons who have the qualifi¬ 
cations of eligibles and who are of the same political affilia¬ 
tion as the member causing the vacancy. Such appoint¬ 
ments are made on recommendation of the local directing 
organization of the party which elected the member whose 
vacancy is to be filled. 

Whenever by reason of a tie vote, or because there are 
several vacant positions in the Municipal Assembly and 
it has not a quorum, such vacant positions cannot be filled 
by the Assembly, then the Governor of Porto Rico, with 
the approval of the Insular Senate, makes the necessary 
appointments. Such vacancies must be filled with persons 
who have the qualifications of eligibles and who are of the 
same political affiliation as the member or members caus¬ 
ing such vacancies. Appointments must be made on 
recommendation of the local directing organization of the 
party which elected the member or members whose vacan¬ 
cies are to be filled. 

Limitations .— All limitations imposed by the Organic 
Act of Porto Rico on the Legislature and its members are 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


9 

applicable, as far as possible, to the Municipal Assembly 
and the members thereof. 

Compensation .— Members of the Municipal Assembly 
receive as sole compensation for their services, a per diem 
of $5 for each day of session which they actually attend in 
first-class municipalities, and of $3 in the others. 

Record of Proceedings .— The Municipal Assembly is 
required to keep a record of its proceedings, resolutions, 
acts and such ordinances as it may approve. This record 
must be kept in bound and folioed books, properly certified 
by the president and the secretary of the Assembly. The 
certification must be written by these officers on the first 
blank page of each book, and it must state the number of 
blank pages contained in said book. These record books 
must be kept by the secretary of the Assembly. They 
constitute records of the same character and nature as the 
minutes of the House of Representatives of Porto Rico. 

Powers .— The Municipal Assembly has sole authority: 

1. To frame the budget of receipts and expenditures. 

2. To sell, exchange, encumber or lease municipal 
property and to construct theaters and public buildings. 

The Council of Administration may, however, authorize 
the leasing of municipal theaters for a term not greater 
than sixty (60) days. 

3. To authorize loans. 

4. To levy taxes and excise taxes of any kind. 

The ordinances levying such taxes and excise taxes 
must be passed by a two-thirds vote of the membership of 
the Municipal Assembly. If this is not possible because of 
vacancies in the Assembly, absence of some of the members 
or any other cause, then said ordinances may be passed by 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


IO 

a majority vote. Whether approved by a two-third or a 
majority vote, these ordinances are subject to the approval 
of the Executive Council of Porto Rico. 

5. To appoint and remove for just cause the Municipal 
Secretary, the Municipal Auditor, and any member of the 
Council of Administration, except the Commissioner of 
Public Service, Police and Prisons, after hearing the ac¬ 
cused and giving him an opportunity to defend himself. 

The Commissioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons 
may be tried and removed for just cause by the vote of 
two-thirds of the members of the Municipal Assembly 
after public impeachment proceedings. The Commis¬ 
sioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons may appeal 
against the resolution of the Assembly before the corre¬ 
sponding district court. 

6. To fill such vacancies as may occur among its mem¬ 
bers as well as among the members of the Council of 
Administration. The Council of Administration, how¬ 
ever, fills such vacancies as occur among its members when 
the Assembly is not in session and the appointments so 
made remain effective until the Municipal Assembly con¬ 
firms the same or makes new appointments. 

7. To fix in the budget the salaries of all municipal 
officers and employees, except the salaries of temporary 
employees appointed by the Council of Administration 
which may be fixed by the latter during the current year. 

8. To create and regulate municipal or school bands. 
The expenses incurred by school bands may be paid from 
funds assigned in the budget for public instruction. School 
bands may be organized, for purposes of payment, on a 
twelve-month basis. 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


II 


The Council of Administration 

Membership .— The Municipal Assembly elects by 
secret ballot at its inaugural session all the members of the 
Council of Administration, with the exception of the Muni¬ 
cipal Commissioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons, 
who is elected by the people in like manner as the mem¬ 
bers of the Municipal Assembly. The office of member of 
the Council of Administration is incompatible with the 
office of delegate of the Municipal Assembly and with any 
other insular or municipal office. 

The Council of Administration is composed of: 

1. A Municipal Commissioner of Public Service, Police 
and Prisons; 

2. A Municipal Commissioner of Finance; 

3. A Municipal Commissioner of Charities; 

4. A Municipal Commissioner of Public Works; 

5. A Municipal Commissioner of Public Education. 

No other administrative department may be created by 

the Municipal Assembly; but, in municipalities of the 
second and third classes, the Municipal Assembly may con¬ 
solidate departments, though in no case may the depart¬ 
ments in any municipality be less than three. 

The Municipal Commissioner of Public Service .— The 
Municipal Commissioner of Public Service, Police and 
Prisons is the chief executive of the municipality and 
president of the Council of Administration. He represents 
the municipality in its corporate capacity; inspects and 
supervises all municipal offices; has power to bring charges 
before the Municipal Assembly against any officer ap¬ 
pointed by this body, and the Assembly decides whether 


12 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


the officer should be removed or not; issues regulations 
which must be adhered to by the municipal commissioners 
in the discharge of the duties and obligations assigned to 
each of them by law; has and exercises all such duties and 
powers as previous laws imposed or conferred upon the 
mayors, where not in conflict with the present provisions; 
and, further, has charge of all services of the municipal 
administration not assigned in the Municipal Law, or by 
resolution of the Council of Administration, to any other 
department of the municipal government. 

The Municipal Commissioner of Finance. — The Muni¬ 
cipal Commissioner of Finance is the municipal treasurer; 
as such, he has under his custody all the funds belonging 
to the municipality. In municipalities of the second and 
third classes, the Commissioner of Finance may be, if so 
provided by the Municipal Assembly, the collector of 
internal revenues of the municipality. 

The Municipal Commissioner of Charities. — The Muni¬ 
cipal Commissioner of Charities has charge within his re¬ 
spective municipality of the charity service and the civil 
register of the municipality, subject to the laws regulating 
it. 

The Municipal Commissioner of Public Works. — The 
Commissioner of Public Works directs and manages all 
works of a municipal character; has charge of all munici¬ 
pal buildings, properties and lands; and fulfills all the 
requirements and performs all the duties and obligations 
imposed upon him by municipal ordinances, the laws of 
the Island and the Organic Act. 

The Municipal Commissioner of Education. — The Muni¬ 
cipal Commissioner of Education exercises all the func- 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


13 


tions and powers and discharges all the duties of the former 
school boards. (See Section 12, “The School District,” 
on page 31.) 

Qualifications .— The Municipal Commissioner of Pub¬ 
lic Service, Police and Prisons must have the same quali¬ 
fications as the members of the Municipal Assembly. 

In all municipalities the Municipal Commissioner of 
Finance must be a person who has performed the func¬ 
tions of a collector of internal revenue, of a municipal 
treasurer or comptroller, or of an examiner of accounts of 
the office of the Auditor or Treasurer of Porto Rico. 

In all municipalities the Municipal Commissioner of 
Charities must be a physician lawfully admitted to the 
practice of his profession in Porto Rico. In those third- 
class municipalities where it may not be possible to 
secure a physician for this office, any other person who 
meets the qualifications required by law to be a member 
of the Council of Administration may be appointed, in 
which case said Commissioner performs his duties as such 
until the municipality fills the office with a physician. 

In first-class municipalities the Municipal Commis¬ 
sioner of Public Works must be a civil engineer or architect. 

In all municipalities the Municipal Commissioner of 
Education must be: a person who is, or has been, a 
public school teacher, or one who holds a title, diploma or 
certificate authorizing him to teach in the public ele¬ 
mentary schools; a high school or university professor; a 
person who holds a professional degree or a high school 
diploma or a degree of Bachelor of Arts; one who has 
been a school supervisor, a Municipal Commissioner of 
Education or a member of the Insular Legislature. 


14 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


General Qualifications of Members o f the Council. — Mem¬ 
bers of the Council of Administration, with the exception 
of the Commissioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons, 
must meet the following qualifications: 

1. They must be citizens of the United States. 

2. They must be over twenty-one years of age. 

3. They must know how to read and write. 

4. They must not have served sentence for a felony or 
for a crime involving moral turpitude nor have been re¬ 
moved from any public office for delinquency or immoral 
conduct. 

Salary. — Members of the Council of Administration 
receive as their only compensation such salary as the 
Municipal Assembly fixes in each budget. Said salary 
must not be increased or decreased during the course of 
the fiscal year. 

Powers. — The Council of Administration exercises, 
when the Municipal Assembly is not in session, all such 
legislative and administrative powers as are conferred on 
the municipality, except such as pertain exclusively to the 
Municipal Assembly. 

Meetings. — The Council of Administration holds ses¬ 
sions on the days and hours determined by a majority of 
its members and incorporated in its rules and regulations. 
It must hold at least two monthly sessions. 

Resignations. — Resignations of members of the Council 
of Administration must be tendered to the Municipal 
Assembly if in session, and if not, they must be tendered 
to, passed upon, and the resulting vacancy must be filled 
temporarily, by the Council of Administration itself, 
which must report the matter to the Municipal Assembly 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


1 5 


at its next meeting for such action as the Municipal Assem¬ 
bly may deem advisable. The same procedure must be 
followed in case of vacancy in any office to be filled by 
designation by the Municipal Assembly. 

Substitutes .— The Council of Administration is em¬ 
powered by law to adopt rules and regulations to govern 
the appointment of substitutes to discharge the duties of 
municipal executive offices whenever by disability or justi¬ 
fied absence there occurs a vacancy. 

Bond Requisite .— All members of the Council of Ad¬ 
ministration must furnish bond to guarantee the faithful 
discharge of their duties, and in such amount as the Muni¬ 
cipal ‘Assembly may determine. Said bonds must be 
approved as to the sufficiency of surety by the Auditor of 
Porto Rico, and as to the legal form thereof, by the Attor¬ 
ney General. 

The bond of the Commissioner of Finance must not be 
for an amount less than ten (io) per cent of the total 
municipal receipts for the preceding fiscal year, and it 
must be increased from time to time as it may be neces¬ 
sary. The bonds of the other commissioners must be of 
not less than three thousand (3000) dollars in first-class 
municipalities, two thousand (2000) dollars in second- 
class municipalities and one thousand (1000) dollars in 
third-class municipalities. These bonds must be filed in 
the Treasury of Porto Rico. 

Limitations .— All restrictions imposed on the heads of 
executive departments of the Insular Government are 
applicable, so far as possible, to members of the Council 
of Administration. 

Duties .— Each member of the Council of Administra- 


i6 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


tion has under his direction and control such offices and 
services as pertain to his office; executes all ordinances 
and resolutions relating to matters comprised in the de¬ 
nomination of his office; certifies payments to be made by 
his department within budgetary appropriations; ap¬ 
points the employees of his office, with the consent and 
approval of the Council, and, with like approval and for 
just cause, may remove them after giving them an oppor¬ 
tunity to state their defense in writing. On August ist of 
each year he must render a report to the Municipal Assem¬ 
bly on matters connected with his department. He must 
prepare bills for ordinances relating to his department and 
submit them to the Council of Administration. He must 
furnish to the Council, to the Assembly and to the Com¬ 
missioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons, such data 
and information as they may require in connection with his 
office. He discharges all such additional duties as the 
Council may prescribe, obeys the rules dictated by the 
Commissioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons in so 
far as they apply to the discharge of his duties and obliga¬ 
tions, and is responsible for the direction and operation of 
his department, and civilly, for any prejudice he may cause 
the private individuals by any of his acts and omissions, 
through malice or inexcusable negligence or ignorance. 

Tenure .— Members of the Council of Administration 
are appointed for four years and hold office until their 
successors are selected and have duly qualified. 

Incompatibility .— The office of member of the Council 
of Administration is incompatible with that of delegate to 
the Assembly and with any other insular or municipal 
remunerative office. 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


17 


Other Municipal Officers 

The Municipal Secretary .— The Municipal Secretary is 
appointed for four years by the Municipal Assembly at its 
inaugural session. The Assembly may remove him for just 
cause after giving him an opportunity to defend himself. 
He is the secretary of the Municipal Assembly and of the 
Council of Administration. As such, he has charge of the 
municipal archives and performs other functions and 
duties assigned to him by the Municipal Assembly and the 
Council of Administration. 

The Municipal Auditor .— The Municipal Auditor, like 
the Municipal Secretary, is appointed for four years by 
the Municipal Assembly and may be removed by that 
body in like manner. The Municipal Auditor acts and has 
all the powers, functions and duties with regard to the 
municipality as appertain to the Auditor of Porto Rico 
(see page 62), subject to the provisions of the Organic 
Act and to such regulations as the Auditor of Porto Rico 
may prescribe. He signs warrants and orders for payment 
out of municipal funds. He must furnish a bond similar 
in amount to that required of the Commissioner of Fi¬ 
nance, and this bond is subject to the approval of the 
Auditor of Porto Rico as to the sufficiency of surety and 
to the approval of the Attorney General as to the legal 
form. He must see to it that the personal and real prop¬ 
erty belonging to the municipality is safeguarded and kept 
free from all damage and deterioration. It is his duty to 
hold responsible every officer or municipal employee under 
whose custody and care said property may be, either dur¬ 
ing his incumbency or at the time when he goes out of 


i8 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


office, for any damage which said property may have 
suffered through bad faith, negligence or carelessness, and 
he must immediately report the matter to the Auditor of 
Porto Rico. 

Consolidation .— In municipalities of the third class, the 
offices of Municipal Secretary and Municipal Auditor 
must be merged in the same person; in municipalities of 
the second class this consolidation may be made at the 
discretion of the Assembly. 

5 . Municipal Finance 

Budget .— The draft of the budget must be framed by 
the Council of Administration not later than the 15th day 
of February of each year. The appropriations appertain¬ 
ing to each branch of the municipal administration must 
be stated separately in said budget. The total budget for 
expenses of public education, including the salary of the 
Commissioner and his office personnel, must not be less 
than twenty-five (25) per cent of the total property tax 
received by the municipality plus the proceeds from the 
“ School Tax,” if any. The Municipal Auditor cannot 
issue any warrant on account of the budget for public 
education, unless the disbursement has been previously 
approved by the Commissioner of Education of Porto 
Rico, as provided by the Organic Act. 

Within three days after the budget is framed, it must be 
posted on the outside of the town hall, at the office of the 
Collector of Internal Revenue, at Police Barracks and at 
the Municipal or Peace Court for a term of ten (10) con¬ 
secutive days, with the statement at the end of the budget 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


19 

that any resident of the municipality desiring to oppose 
or make objections thereto as to any of its items, shall do 
so by addressing the President of the Assembly in writing 
before the day on which the Assembly is to meet, which 
day must be clearly stated. 

The Council of Administration must submit the draft of 
the budget to the Assembly at its regular annual session, 
on the first day of the organization. The Assembly must 
take into consideration the draft of the budget and the 
objections, if any. Should the Municipal Assembly fail to 
approve the budget prior to July 1 of each year, the budget 
for the preceding fiscal year remains in force. 

No transfer of funds from one item of the regular or 
additional budget to another, and no new items may be 
created in said budgets by means of transfers of funds 
except by resolution of the Municipal Assembly. When 
the Assembly is not in session, said transfers of funds may 
be made by the Council of Administration with the ap¬ 
proval of the Executive Council of Porto Rico. Transfers 
of funds from one item of a loan budget to another can 
only be made by order or resolution of the Municipal 
Assembly, with the approval of the Executive Council. 
Surpluses in regular funds left over on June 30 of each 
year after closing of the budget and payment of all debts 
chargeable to same, may be expended in works or services 
of public utility by framing supplementary budgets which 
must be approved by the Municipal Assembly in like 
manner as the regular budgets. 

Copies of all budgets must be sent to the Legislature of 
Porto Rico. 

Funds not Attachable .— Funds in possession of the Treas- 


20 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


urer of Porto Rico, belonging to any municipality, are not 
subject to attachment by any creditor of the municipality. 

Budget Limitations .— The municipalities cannot appro¬ 
priate in their budgets any sum for the payment of salaries 
without having first made, in their order, the necessary 
appropriations for the following obligations: 

1. Indebtedness on account of principal and interest 
due or to become due within the fiscal year for which the 
budget is framed, for which no special funds are provided 
through a special tax for the redemption thereof. 

2. Any deficit resulting from the operations of preced¬ 
ing years, or expenses to which the municipality is legally 
bound by contracts either entered into or for other causes, 
and all payments or reimbursements by reason of final 
judgments rendered against the municipality by any court 
of competent jurisdiction. 

3. Public charity. 

4. Public education. 

5. Public works. 

6. Fire, police and jail services. 

7. Maintenance of municipal works and buildings. 

8. Per diems of members of the Municipal Assembly. 

In no case shall the amount appropriated for payment 

of salaries of personnel, excluding salaries of teachers of 
public education, exceed fifty (50) per cent of the total of 
the general budget of expenses. 

Municipal Revenues .— The municipal revenues consist 
of: 

1. The revenues and proceeds from municipal property. 

2. The proceeds of any tax on real and personal prop¬ 
erty in the municipal district levied under proper authori- 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


21 


zation of the Legislative Assembly. No tax may be levied, 
however, upon property exempt from taxation by the laws 
of the United States or by any law enacted by the Legis¬ 
lative Assembly. 

3. Any surcharge of the tax on taxable property of the 
municipality, provided it is so ordained by two-thirds of 
the Municipal Assembly. When a two-thirds vote is not 
possible, either because of vacancies in the Assembly or 
failure to attend on the part of some members or for any 
other reason, said ordinances may be passed by a majority 
of the members. These ordinances whether passed by two- 
thirds of the members or by a majority, require the ap¬ 
proval of the Executive Council. Said surcharge cannot 
exceed one (1) per cent, computing therein any additional 
tax at present or hereafter authorized. The ordinances 
authorizing said surcharge must be posted publicly for a 
period of not less than twenty (20) days and they must be 
published twice the same week in a newspaper of large cir¬ 
culation before they are submitted to the Executive 
Council. 

Said surcharge must be devoted solely to the redemption 
of loans heretofore or hereafter contracted; to the develop¬ 
ment of elementary education; to the construction of 
municipal or inter-municipal roads, aqueducts, electric 
plants, and sewerage systems; to the construction and 
upkeep of hospitals, cemeteries, asylums for the aged and 
orphans, tuberculosis sanatoriums, asylums for the in¬ 
sane, reform schools and market places; to paving, as¬ 
phalting, and planting of trees on streets; to the construc¬ 
tion of docks and bulkheads, school houses, houses for 
teachers, agricultural farms, houses for sale on long terms 


22 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


to workmen, villages, dikes to prevent inundations, public 
laundries, and buildings for municipal offices. Said prop¬ 
erty surtax must be collected by the Treasurer of Porto 
Rico, a certified copy of the ordinance adopted by the 
Municipal Assembly to serve as authorization for the pur¬ 
pose. This surtax must be levied on the basis of the assess¬ 
ment made by the Department of Finance, for collection 
solely during the following fiscal year, except in cases of 
loans, when it must be in force for the time necessary until 
payment of the principal and interest has been covered. 
In all cases, the surcharge must not be collected in the 
same fiscal year in which it was levied by the Municipal 
Assembly. The Municipal ordinance levying any addi¬ 
tional taxes, including the tax known as “School Tax,” on 
the assessment of property must be received by the Treas¬ 
urer of Porto Rico on or before the 15 th of March. 

4. License taxes provided by Act No. 26 of March 28, 
1914, entitled “An Act authorizing the municipalities of 
the Island of Porto Rico to levy and collect annual license 
taxes to be used in meeting their budgetary expenses, and 
for other purposes,” which is hereby declared in force. 

5. Fines and costs imposed by peace courts. All fines 
imposed and collected by the other courts of the Island for 
violation of municipal ordinances. 

6. Any other impost, excise or tax that may be levied 
by two-thirds of the members of the Municipal Assembly, 
provided the object or matter of taxation is not also the 
object or matter of any Federal or Insular tax. 

7. Interest on deposits of funds. Municipalities may 
reimburse totally or partially any funds unduly or unlaw¬ 
fully covered into the municipal treasury, whatever the 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


23 


source of such funds, by resolution to that effect adopted 
by the Municipal Assembly or by the Council of Adminis¬ 
tration, when the former is not in session. 

Appropriations for Urban and Rural Zone Service .— 
When available, the municipality must expend in rural 
zone services in public education, public works and charity, 
a sum not less than thirty (30) per cent of the total regular 
appropriation for each of said services in the urban zone. 
The budget must specify the sum appropriated for each of 
said services in the urban zone and in the rural zone; and 
no amount appropriated for the rural zone may be trans¬ 
ferred to the urban zone. 

Municipal Accounting .— Municipal accounting is gov¬ 
erned by regulations established by the Auditor of Porto 
Rico with the approval of the Governor. The Audi¬ 
tor of Porto Rico may examine and investigate municipal 
accounts and the condition of the administration whenever 
he deems such action advisable. He must prepare a 
written annual report and transmit it to the Legislature 
together with his recommendations. A copy of this report 
must be sent to the Municipal Assemblies and Councils of 
Administration. 

6. Grants of Lots and Lands 

On petition the Municipal Assembly may grant lots in 
perpetuity for the construction of houses thereon, under 
such conditions as the Assembly may determine by ordi¬ 
nance approved for the purposes; and where a lot has been 
granted as aforesaid, the owner of the house constructed 
thereon may have the use of said lot during such time as he. 
maintains on said lot a building in good condition, in ac- 


24 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


cordance with regulations prescribed by said ordi¬ 
nance. 

The municipal Assembly must specify in such concessions as 
it may make, the respective rights of the grantor and grantee, 
or their successors, as to the ownership of the buildings, the 
reconstruction thereof in cases where they are destroyed or de¬ 
teriorated and everything not in conflict with the provisions 
of this Act. 

The concession must necessarily be made by an ordinance 
or resolution adopted by the majority of the total number 
of members of the Assembly. No petition is taken into con¬ 
sideration if the petitioner does not attach thereto the plans 
and estimates for *the building to be constructed on the lot 
applied for, so that the Assembly may be cognizant of the work 
in granting the concession. 

Failure on the part of the grantee to comply with the condi¬ 
tions imposed by the resolution of the Municipal Assembly, 
relative to each concession, is considered as sufficient for the 
revocation of said concession by the municipality, if the grantee, 
on request of the interested Municipal Assembly, does not pro¬ 
ceed to remedy the omission or infraction within such reasona¬ 
ble time as he may be granted by the Assembly for the 
purpose. 

When the Municipal Assembly believes that it must consider 
the question of the forfeiture of one of these concessions, the 
grantee must be summoned, at least one month in advance, so 
that he may appear before the Assembly in defense of his rights, 
at a meeting to be held for the purpose. Upon hearing the 
interested party, the Assembly decides pursuant to law and in 
accordance with the facts of the evidence; and the resolution 
adopted is final, provided the grantee does not appear within 
the period of thirty days after he has been notified of the de¬ 
cision, filing the proper action before the district court of the 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


25 


district to which the municipality belongs; and after the case 
has again been heard in said court, its decision is final. 

Among the terms of the concession made in each case, that 
of payment of an annual rental to the municipality making the 
concession may be prescribed, which rental shall at least be 
equal to the amount of the property tax which would appertain 
to said property, if such property is subject to the payment of 
such tax, and in the aforesaid concession there must also be 
stipulated that any building on the property leased must be 
subject to the payment of taxes. 

Every grantee of a lot built upon under a previous concession, 
desiring to obtain the final ownership of such lot to him granted 
may acquire the same without the need of public auction, and 
the Municipal Assembly may so determine by an ordinance 
providing for the fixing of the rate at which the said lots must 
be sold in each urban zone. 

Nothing herein contained may be construed to include grants 
of lands which have been donated to municipalities under condi¬ 
tions specifically providing the use to be made thereof, in which 
cases the conditions imposed by the donor as well as any con¬ 
ditions imposed by the municipality must be strictly complied 
with. The concession of the use of lands situated in the urban 
zone of a municipality, which have been previously donated or 
which may be hereafter donated to a municipality, without 
prescribing any specific condition relative to the donation, are 
governed by the law in force at the time of the grant. 

The sale, mortgage, lease, or any other manner of disposing 
of real property belonging to municipalities, except the conces¬ 
sions of lots, must be made in accordance with the provisions 
prescribed under section 5 of “Special Limitations.” These 
provisions are not applicable to the sales or leases of niches or 
parcels of land for the burial of corpses. Municipalities may 
make such leases or sales directly to the petitioner. 

The Municipal Assembly may delegate to the Council of 


26 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Administration any of the powers with which it is expressly 
vested here. 

When a municipality has established the building line of a 
street in the urban zone thereof, or a road line in the rural zone, 
and private property contiguous to said street or road is separ¬ 
ated from said building line by lands belonging to the munici¬ 
pality, then the municipality may grant the land thereunto 
belonging, situated between such private property and the 
street or road, to the owners of the property immediately con¬ 
tiguous thereto, by ordinance and without competition or 
public auction. But no land may be disposed of as above 
stated for a price lower than the value per square meter given 
under the official assessment to the property located back of the 
building line. 

7. Ordinances 

Publication. — The municipal ordinances containing 
penal provisions must be published in one or more news¬ 
papers of the Island. They are printed and sold at cost 
price in the office of the Municipal Secretary. At the 
end of each fiscal year they must be bound in one volume. 

Penalties for Violations. — Violations of municipal ordi¬ 
nances may be punished by fine not exceeding fifty (50) 
dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding fifteen (15) days, 
or both, at the discretion of the court. All fines collected 
by the courts for violations of municipal ordinances are 
paid to the proper municipality. 

Court Jurisdiction. — Peace courts have concurrent ju¬ 
risdiction with municipal courts in cases of violations of 
municipal ordinances. 

Special Limitation. — No ordinance containing penal 
provisions may take effect until twenty days after its 
publication. 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


27 


Application .— Subject to the provisions of the two pre¬ 
ceding sections, ordinances and resolutions take effect ten 
days after their approval, except where extraordinary 
cases require the immediate taking effect thereof, in which 
cases, if so declared in the text, they take effect from and 
after the date of their approval if approved by the affirma¬ 
tive vote of a majority of the total membership of the 
Municipal Assembly. 

Sanitary Ordinances .— Ordinances of a sanitary charac¬ 
ter are subject to the approval of the Insular Commissioner 
of Health. A copy of each ordinance of this character 
must be transmitted to said official. 

General Limitations .— No action, ordinance or resolu¬ 
tion of any kind may be adopted by the Council of Admin¬ 
istration on the same day of its introduction, unless by 
unanimous consent, and no appropriation of funds for any 
purpose whatever may be made except by ordinance or 
resolution of the Municipal Assembly specifying the items 
and the department or branch of the service for which 
such appropriation is made. Any ordinance authorizing 
the sale, exchange, mortgage or lease of any property be¬ 
longing to the municipality or under its control must be 
adopted by at least two-thirds of the votes of the entire 
membership of the Municipal Assembly. Nothing con¬ 
tained in this section, however, may be construed so as to 
prevent a Municipal Assembly, by vote of two-thirds of 
all its members, from assigning any municipal property to 
The People of Porto Rico or to the United States, for 
public purposes. 

Ordinances requiring the affirmative vote of two-thirds 
of the members of the Municipal Assembly may be passed 


28 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


by a majority vote wherever vacancies in the Assembly, 
absence from sessions of some members or any other 
cause, prevent the presence of enough members to con¬ 
stitute the desired two-thirds majority. Ordinances so 
passed are not effective unless approved by the Executive 
Council of Porto Rico. 

8. Bureau of Municipal Affairs 

The Bureau of Municipal Affairs of the Finance Depart¬ 
ment has the duty of preparing all data and reports rela¬ 
tive to municipal affairs that may be required by the 
municipalities of the Island for compliance with their 
legal obligations, and must render, as far as possible, such 
aid as may be required by any municipality, in any admin¬ 
istrative matter of a local or general nature. 

The Treasurer of Porto Rico may require municipali¬ 
ties to furnish necessary information for the purpose of 
placing the Bureau of Municipal Affairs in a position to 
render any report on municipal matters that may be re¬ 
quired of him by the Governor, the Legislative Assembly, 
or any of the executive departments of the Insular Govern¬ 
ment. 

Any consultation which municipal officers desire to 
submit to the Attorney General on the interpretation of 
legal provisions in force, may be transmitted through the 
Bureau of Municipal Affairs. 

9. Judicial Remedies 

On motion of the aggrieved party, the courts of justice 
have jurisdiction: 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


29 


1. To annul or review by writ of certiorari any legisla¬ 
tive or administrative act of the Municipal Assembly, 
Council of Administration or Commissioners, which in¬ 
fringes the constitutional rights of the complainant or 
which is contrary to the Organic Act or laws of Porto Rico. 

2. To stay by injunction the execution of any ordi¬ 
nance, act, resolution or order which infringes rights guar¬ 
anteed by the Constitution or insular laws. 

3. To compel by writ of mandamus a compliance with 
ministerial duties by municipal officials. 

4. To grant, by ordinary suit, compensation for dam¬ 
ages to parties injured by acts or omissions of municipal 
officials through malice or inexcusable negligence or 
ignorance. 


10. Salaries 

The members of the Council of Administration, the 
Secretary, the Auditor and all the other officers and per¬ 
manent employees of the municipality are entitled to and 
must receive as their sole compensation the salaries which 
the Municipal Assembly may assign to them in each 
budget. These salaries cannot be increased or reduced 
during the fiscal year. 

No part of the salary of any municipal officer or em¬ 
ployee is subject to attachment. 

Wherever a municipality has not sufficient funds to pay 
in full the salaries of its officers and employees in any 
month, the funds available must be distributed among 
such officers and employees in proportion to their respec¬ 
tive salaries. 


30 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


11. Establishment of Villages 

Acquisition of Land. — The municipalities of Porto Rico 
are authorized to acquire by purchase, gift, or otherwise, 
tracts of land in the rural districts for the purpose of es¬ 
tablishing settlements. Funds for the acquiring of such 
tracts are derived from appropriations in the respective 
municipal budgets, and the Municipal Assembly decides 
by ordinance upon the location and purchase price. 

Granting of Lots. — The Municipal Assembly may, upon 
request, grant in perpetual use building lots for erection of 
houses thereon, and when a lot is granted as aforesaid, the 
owner of the house built thereon has the free use of such 
lot as long as he maintains thereon a building in good con¬ 
dition, conforming to regulations established by ordinance. 

Neither the grantees nor their successors may without 
the consent of the Municipal Assembly, change, modify 
or alter in any manner or for any reason the superficial 
extent of said lots, no matter what the date of their 
respective concessions may have been. 

Alienation of Lots. — The council of Administration may 
also alienate such building lots by private sale, authorizing 
the Commissioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons to 
execute the deeds therefor. The Municipal Assembly 
must establish rules for such sales, selling price and all 
other details and conditions. 

Size of Lots. — Each building lot granted or sold must 
not exceed one cuadro of land. 

Insular Assistance. — When in any municipality the In¬ 
sular Government possesses land suitable for establishing 
villages, the Commissioner of the Interior, upon approval 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


31 


of the Executive Council of Porto Rico, is authorized to 
deed to such municipality a tract of land not exceeding 
twenty-five cuerdas to each municipality to be used ex¬ 
clusively for the establishing of villages. 

Municipalities must reserve the necessary portion out 
of such tracts for the establishment of schools and chil¬ 
dren’s playgrounds, and for any other building or work of 
public utility. 


12. The School District 

Extent .— Each municipality is a school district, but in 
some instances two or three municipalities have been 
consolidated. 

Powers of the Municipal Commissioner of Education .— 
The Municipal Commissioner of Education has control of 
all the school property not belonging to the Department 
of Education. He has charge of all school buildings, 
owned or rented, within the district; he has power to 
erect, repair, remodel or improve school buildings of all 
kinds; he may purchase real estate for school purposes 
and improve the same; he may, within certain limits, 
contract indebtedness; he provides suitable school furni¬ 
ture and equipment for all schools except high schools; he 
appoints janitors and other necessary employees; he may 
suspend pupils or teachers subject to the approval of the 
Commissioner of Education; he, with the advice of the 
Supervisor of Schools, nominates all rural, graded and 
principal teachers, subject to the approval of the Com¬ 
missioner of Education. The powers of the Municipal 
Commissioner of Education are limited by provisions 
appearing in section 17 of the Organic Act. 


32 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Teachers of English and Special Teachers .— Teachers of 
English, continuation-school teachers, and all special 
teachers are appointed directly by the Commissioner of 
Education. 

Supervisors of Schools .— Supervisors of Schools are ap¬ 
pointed directly by the Commissioner of Education, who 
divides the Island into districts for purposes of super¬ 
vision. The Supervisor of Schools has general supervision 
of teachers and pupils in both elementary and higher 
schools. He shares with the Municipal Commissioner of 
Education the right to assign teachers to their respective 
grades and schools. In addition, he performs any duties 
prescribed for him by the Commissioner of Education, 
and he is required by law to submit an annual report cov¬ 
ering the work of his district. He has an office equipped 
in accordance with the importance and dignity of his posi¬ 
tion and he keeps regular office hours, but the greater part 
of his time is spent in visiting the schools for the purpose of 
supervising instruction. 

OUTLINE OF THE MUNICIPAL LAW 

1. Classification of Municipalities 

a. Basis of classification 

b. Number of classes 

2. Provisions Common to all Municipalities 

a. General powers 

b. General limitations 

3. Special Limitations 

a. As to public works 

b. As to rate of interest for debts 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


33 


c . As to loans 

d. As to jurisdiction 

e. As to disposal of property 

/. As to amount of indebtedness 

g. As to inspection expenses of public works 

4. Municipal Government 

a. The Municipal Assembly 

(1) Membership in each class 

(2) How and when elected 

(3) Provision for minority representation 

(4) Term of office 

(5) Qualifications of members 

(6) Regular sessions 

(a) Date 

( b ) Length 

(7) Special sessions 

(a) How convened 

(b) Length 

(8) Quorum 

(9) Attendance 

(a) Provision for compulsory attendance 

(b) Penalty for failure to attend 

(10) Absences 

(n) Resignations 

(12) Vacancies 

(a) How caused 

(b) How filled 

(13) Limitations 

(14) Compensation 

(15) Record of proceedings 

(16) Exclusive powers 


34 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


b. The Council of Administration 

(1) Membership in each class 

(a) Provision for consolidation of offices 

(2) How and when elected 

(a) Incompatibility 

(3) The Municipal Commissioner of Public 
Service 

(a) Qualifications 

( b ) Powers and duties 

(4) The Municipal Commissioner of Finance 

(a) Qualifications 

(b) Powers and duties 

(5) The Municipal Commissioner of Charities 

(a) Qualifications 

(b) Powers and duties 

(6) The Municipal Commissioner of Public Works 

(a) Qualifications 

(b) Powers and duties 

(7) The Municipal Commissioner of Education 

(a) Qualifications 

(b) Powers and duties 

(8) General qualifications of members 

(a) As to citizenship 

(b) As to age 

(c) As to literacy 

( d ) As to private and public conduct 

(9) Salary 

(a) Limitation as to increase 

(10) Powers of the Council of Administration 

(11) Resignations 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


35 


(12) Vacancies 

(13) Appointment of substitutes 

(14) Bond requisite 

(a) Amount 

(15) Limitations 

(16) General duties of members 
C, Other municipal officers 

(1) The Municipal Secretary 

(a) Appointment 

( b ) Duties 

(2) The Municipal Auditor 

(a) Appointment 

( b ) Duties 

. (c) Bond requisite 

(3) Consolidation 

5. Municipal Finance 

a. Regular budget 

(1) Who frames it? When? 

(2) Who approves it? When? 

(3) Provision for general distribution of funds 

(4) Minimum for education 

(5) Approval of educational disbursements 

(6) Provision for posting budget 

(7) Transfer of funds 

(8) Surpluses 

(a) How spent 

b. Supplementary budget 

(1) Who frames it? When? 

(2) Who approves it? 

(3) Provision for posting 

(4) Amount available for budget 


36 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


c. Order of precedence for appropriations 

d. Appropriations for urban and rural zones 

e. Municipal accounts 

f. Municipal revenues 

(1) Sources 

(2) Funds not attachable 

6. Grants of Lots and Lands 

a. Who has power to grant them? 

b. Conditions 

c. Acquisition of final ownership 

d. Disposal of land adjacent to building lines 

7. Ordinances 

a. Publication 

b. Penalties for violation 

c. Court jurisdiction 

d. Limitation as to ordinances containing penal pro¬ 
visions 

e. Application 

/. Sanitary ordinances 

g. General limitations 

(1) As to adoption on day of introduction 

(2) As to appropriation of funds 

(3) As to sale, exchange, mortgage or lease of 
property 

8. Bureau of Municipal Affairs 

a . Duties 

9. Judicial Remedies 

10. Salary Protection 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


37 


ii. The School District 

a. Extent 

b. Powers and duties of Municipal Commissioner of 
Education 

c. Appointment of teachers of English and Special 
teachers 

d. Supervisors of Schools 

(i) Powers and duties 

PROBLEMS ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 

1. Find out how many municipalities there are in Porto 
Rico. How many belong to the first class? the second? the 
third? To which class does your municipality belong? What 
difference would it make if it belonged to either of the other 
two classes? 

2. What is meant by this: “All municipalities have full legis¬ 
lative and administrative powers in all matters of a purely local 
nature.” Name a few matters that are of a purely local nature. 
What does your municipality do about them? 

3. Can your municipality pass a law to reorganize the local 
postal service? the police? the teaching of English in the 
schools? Why? Name a few things that your municipality 
can do and some that it can not do. 

4. Find out what public municipal works are being done in 
the municipality. Are they being done by administration or 
by contract? In your judgment, which of these two ways is 
better? 

5. Your municipality needs $25,000 to build a hospital. 
Find out what it has to do to borrow this sum. 

6. Find out who are the members of your Municipal Assem¬ 
bly. May a woman be a member of the Municipal Assembly? 
A Spaniard has lived in Porto Rico thirty years. May he be a 
member of the Municipal Assembly? 


3 § 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


7. A certain municipality belongs to the first class. Six 
members of its Municipal Assembly meet and unanimously 
decide to sell the municipal theater. Is their action legal? 
Why? 

8. The law states that all the sessions of the Municipal 
Assembly must be held in the municipal town hall. Discuss 
this provision. 

9. A certain municipality has an assembly of nine members. 
Three members have resigned, one has died and the office of 
another h^s been declared vacant for unjustified failure to 
attend meetings. Can the Assembly function legally? If not, 
what can be done? 

10. In a municipality of the third class three members of 
the Assembly resign and their resignations are accepted. 
Another member insists on absenting himself without just 
cause. The remaining members meet and declare his office 
vacant. Is this legal? Why? 

11. Find out how many employees there are in your munici¬ 
pality and what share of the municipal income is spent to pay 
their salaries. 

12. Find out what taxes are levied by your municipality and 
how much they produce. 

13. Suppose the Municipal Secretary is lazy and does not 
do his work properly, how can the people get rid of him? 

14. Find out who are the members of your Municipal Coun¬ 
cil of Administration and what each does. 

15. Who takes' care of the streets and plazas of your munici¬ 
pality? Do you think enough attention is given to their up¬ 
keep? Suggest ways in which they might be improved. 

16. Are the streets of your municipality wide enough to 
have shade trees planted in them? If so, do you think that 
trees should be planted? Who ought to do it? 

17. What provision has your municipality made to give 
medical assistance and medicine to the poor people who live 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


39 


in the barrios of the interior? Do you think the municipality 
is doing all it can for these people? If you were the Municipal 
Commissioner of Public Service, what would you do about this 
matter? 

18. Visit the municipal hospital, if there is any in your muni¬ 
cipality, and report to the class on the following: (a) location, 

(b) equipment, (c) medical service and attendance. If there is a 
private hospital, visit it and compare it with the public insti¬ 
tution. 

19. Visit the municipal jail. Is it kept clean? Are the 
prisoners given kind treatment? Can you suggest any improve¬ 
ments? 

20. Name a few specific things that the Municipal Com¬ 
missioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons does as: (a) 
Commissioner of Public Service; (b) Commissioner of Police; 

(c) Commissioner of Prisons. 

21. A merchant sells a dozen brooms to the municipality. 
Find out what he must do to get paid. Report the details of 
the transaction. 

22. Find out what your Municipal Commissioner of Health 
is doing for the municipality. 

23. What is the Civil Register? Find out and report to the 
class. Is it similar to the School Register in any way? 

24. Find out what are the duties of the Municipal Com¬ 
missioner of Public Works. 

25. Can a practicante be appointed as Commissioner of 
Health? Why? 

26. Who provides the schools with: (a) desks; (b) books; 
(c) paper; (d) clocks; (e) flags; (f) filters; (g) drinking cups? 

27. The position of Municipal Commissioner of Education 
is vacant. The following persons apply: (a) a coffee planter; 
(b) a poet that did not complete the sixth grade; (c) a high- 
school graduate; (d) a former teacher; (e) a former mayor who 


40 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


does not hold any degree or diploma, but who is a very capable 
man. Which of these are qualified to fill the position? 

28. Find out what salaries are paid to the members of the 
Municipal Council of Administration. 

29. The Municipal Assembly is not in session. The follow¬ 
ing matters come up: (a) the resignation of the Municipal 
Commissioner of Education; (b) an excellent offer to buy the 
Municipal Theatre; (c) an emergency requiring the immediate 
raising of a loan. Can the Council of Administration take 
action on these matters? Explain fully. 

30. All members of the Council of Administration must 
furnish bond to guarantee the faithful discharge of their duties. 
Is this a wise provision? Why? 

31. What are the municipal archives? If they were de¬ 
stroyed by fire, what would be the loss to the municipality? 

32. Find out what are the duties of the Municipal Auditor. 

33. Find out the income of the municipality from all 
sources. 

34. Find out whether the municipality levies any special 
tax on real or personal property, and if so, for what purpose. 

35. Find out what sums your municipality has appropriated 
for the following services: (a) Public charity; (b) Public edu¬ 
cation; (c) Public Works; (d) Sanitation; (e) Fire, police 
and jails. 

36. Find out what sum your municipality spent last year for 
rural roads. State reasons why rural roads should be kept in 
good condition. 

37. Secure a copy of an ordinance and study it. 

38. Your municipality passes an ordinance forbidding the 
throwing of garbage in the streets under penalty of a fine of 
$25 or imprisonment for 10 days. What requisites must be 
fulfilled before the ordinance can take effect? 

39. The Assembly of a certain municipality has a member¬ 
ship of 7 Unionists and 2 Republicans. The sale of a piece of 


THE MUNICIPAL LAW 


41 


land belonging to the municipality is under discussion. The 
two Republicans and two Unionists vote against the sale; all 
the other members vote in favor of it. Can the Assembly sell 
the property? 

40. The Assembly of a municipality is in doubt as to whether 
it can legislate on a certain matter. What provision does the 
Municipal Law make for giving advice to the Municipal 
Assemblies? 

41. The Assembly of your municipality passes an ordinance 
which you feel infringes your rights. What can you do to 
obtain redress? 

42. The Municipal Commissioner of Finance owns a drug 
store. The inspector of public works owes him a sum for 
medicines. Can the Commissioner of Finance retain the 
inspector’s pay check? 

43. State which of the following services are rendered by 
private organizations, which by the municipality, which by the 
Insular Government, and which by the Federal Government: 
(a) the post-office; (b) the church; (c) public lighting; (d) the 
hospital; (e) the waterworks; (f) the telephone; (g) the tele¬ 
graph; (h) the light-houses; (i) the plaza concerts; (j) the 
moving-picture theaters. 

44. The Municipal Commissioner of Education of Carolina 
wishes to order school desks at a cost of $7 50. State the legal 
procedure. 

45. State the procedure to be followed in contracting a 
municipal loan. 

46. Report to the class on the beggars of your municipality. 
What is done for them? Suggest ways and means of making 
their life more pleasant. 

47. Name five public improvements which, in your judg¬ 
ment, ought to be made in your municipality. 

48. Which are better kept, the carreteras that lead out of 


42 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


your municipality or the streets in your town? Discuss this 
question. 

49. Find out whether your municipality has voted an 
ordinance to protect the birds and the trees against wanton 
damage. Is there any public sentiment in your municipality 
in favor of greater protection for birds and trees?. 

50. Find out how many things the people of your munici¬ 
pality are doing expontaneously to guard the health and 
improve the welfare of the community. Are you helping? 


PART II 


THE ORGANIC LAW 
1. The Bill of Rights 1 

1. No law may be enacted in Porto Rico which deprives 
any person of life, liberty or property without due process 
of law, or denies to any person therein the equal protection 
of the laws. 

2 . In all criminal prosecutions, the accused has the 
following rights: 

a. Assistance of counsel for his defense. 

b. Notification in writing of the nature and cause of 

the accusation. 

c. A speedy and public trial. 

d. Confrontation of witnesses against him. 

1 Every recent State constitution contains a bill of rights. The 
Constitution of the United States did not include a bill of rights, but 
the first ten amendments were added soon after its adoption to sup¬ 
ply this need. For this reason the first ten amendments are some¬ 
times referred to as the “American Bill of Rights.” Some of the 
original thirteen States considered the addition of these amendments 
of such importance that they did not ratify the Constitution until the 
adoption of the ten amendments was virtually certain. 

These general rights, which are really restraints imposed upon the 
action of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the gov¬ 
ernment, were secured by English-speaking peoples only after long 
years of suffering and struggle. The Congress of the United States, 
which has full power to legislate for all the Territories that belong to 
the Nation, generally incorporates a bill of rights in organic acts 
enacted for the government of these Territories. 

43 


44 


POFTO RICO CIVICS 


e. Compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his 

favor. 

3. No person can be held to answer for a criminal offense 
without due process of law; nor be punished twice for the 
same offense; nor be compelled in any criminal case to be 
a witness against himself. 

4. Before conviction all persons must be bailable by 
sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses when the 
proof is evident or the presumption great. 

5. No law may be enacted impairing the obligation of 
contracts. 

6. No person may be imprisoned for debt. 

7. The writ of habeas corpus may not be suspended 
unless when in case of rebellion, insurrection or invasion, 
the public safety may require it. The President of the 
United States or the Governor of Porto Rico may suspend 
the writ of habeas corpus whenever during such period the 
necessity for such suspension may exist. 

8. No ex-post-facto law or bill of attainder may be 
enacted. 

9. Private property may not be taken or damaged for 
public use except upon payment of just compensation 
ascertained in the manner provided by law. 

10. Nothing contained in the Organic Act may be con¬ 
strued to limit the power of the Insular Legislature to 
enact laws for the protection of the lives, health or safety 
of employees. 

11. No law granting a title of nobility may be enacted. 
No person holding any office of profit or trust under the 
Government of Porto Rico may, without the consent of 
the Congress of the United States, accept any present, 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


45 


emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any 
king, queen, prince, or foreign State, or any officer thereof. 

12. No excessive bail may be required, nor excessive 
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

13. The right to be secure against unreasonable searches 
and seizures must not be violated. 

14. No warrant for arrest or search may be issued 
except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirma¬ 
tion, particularly describing the place to be searched and 
the persons or things to be seized. 

15. Slavery must not exist in Porto Rico. 

16. Involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for 
crime, whereof the person has been duly convicted, must 
not exist in Porto Rico. 

17. No law may be passed abridging the freedom of 
speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably 
to assemble and petition the Government for redress of 
grievances. 

18. a. No law may be made respecting an establish¬ 
ment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. 

b. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious pro¬ 
fession and worship without discrimination or preference 
is forever to be allowed. 

c. No political or religious test other than an oath to 
support the Constitution of the United States and the 
laws of Porto Rico may be required as a qualification to 
any office or public trust under the Government of Porto 
Rico. 

19. No public money or property may be appropriated, 
applied, donated, used, directly or indirectly, for the use, 
benefit or support of any sect, church, denomination, sec- 


46 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


tarian institution or association, or system of religion, or 
for the use, benefit or support of any priest, preacher, 
minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary as such, 
or for charitable, industrial, educational or benevolent 
purposes to any person, corporation or community not 
under the absolute control of Porto Rico. 

20. Polygamous or plural marriages are prohibited. 

21. No money may be paid out of the Treasury except 
in pursuance of an appropriation by law, and on warrant 
drawn by the proper officer in pursuance thereof. 

22. The rule of taxation in Porto Rico must be uniform. 

23. All money derived from any tax levied or assessed 
for a special purpose must be treated as a special fund in 
the Treasury and paid out for such purpose only except 
upon the approval of the President of the United States. 

24. Eight hours constitute a day’s work in all cases of 
employment of laborers and mechanics, by and on behalf 
of the Government, on public works, except in cases of 
emergency. 

25. The employment of children under the age of four¬ 
teen years in any occupation injurious to health or morals 
or hazardous to life or limb is prohibited. 

2 . The Legislative Power 

The Senate .— A Senate composed of nineteen members, 
elected by the people of Porto Rico, exercises all of the 
purely legislative functions hitherto exercised by the Exec¬ 
utive Council and confirms certain appointments. 

No one may be a Senator who is not over thirty years of 
age, who is not a citizen of the United States, who cannot 
read and write either the Spanish or the English language, 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


47 


wno has not been a resident of Porto Rico for at least two 
consecutive years, and who, except in the case of Senators- 
at-large, has not lived in the district from which he is 
chosen at least one year. 

The term of office of Senators is four years. There are 
two Senators from each of seven senatorial districts, and 
there are, in addition, five Senators-at-large. In electing 
the five Senators-at-large each elector (voter) is permitted 
to vote for but one candidate. The five candidates re¬ 
ceiving the largest number of votes are declared elected. 

The Senate does not serve as a canvassing board as did 
the Executive Council under the Foraker Act; 1 neither 
does it have control over franchises and concessions, this 
power being delegated to a Public Service Commission. 

The House of Representatives .— The lower house is desig¬ 
nated as the House of Representatives. This body con¬ 
sists of thirty-nine members. One representative is elected 
from each of thirty-five representative districts; in addi¬ 
tion there are four Representatives-at-large. 

No person may be a Representative who is not over 
twenty-five years of age, who is not a citizen of the-United 
States, who cannot read and write either the Spanish or 
the English language, and who, except in the case of Rep- 
resentatives-at-large, has not lived at least one year prior 
to his election in the district from which he is elected. 

The term of office of Representatives is four years. In 
electing the four Representatives-at-large each elector 
(voter) is permitted to vote for but one candidate. The 
four candidates receiving the largest number of votes are 
declared elected. 


1 See Appendix 


48 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


There is no property qualification as an alternative 
qualification for membership ip the lower house as was 
required for members of the House of Delegates under the 
former Organic Act. 1 

Vacancies. — All vacancies may be filled by special 
election. 

Salaries of Members of the Legislature. — Members re¬ 
ceive $7 per day for the first ninety days of each regular 
session and $i for each additional day while in session, and 
mileage for each session at the rate of io cents per kilo¬ 
meter for each kilometer traveled by the usual route of 
travel in going to the capital and returning therefrom to 
their places of residence in their respective districts. 

Sessions of the Legislature. — All regular sessions are held 
biennially in odd years beginning with the second Monday 
of February. Special sessions of the Legislature may be 
called by the Governor, but such sessions may consider 
only such matters as are specified in the call. 

The Senate may be called in special session whenever the 
Governor sees fit and it must always be called in special 
session the second Monday of February of those years 
when no session of the Legislature is held. 

Powers of the Legislature. — The authority of the Legis¬ 
lature of Porto Rico extends to all matters of a legislative 
character not locally inapplicable or inconsistent with the 
Organic Act and the Constitution of the United States. 
The Legislature is specifically authorized to legislate on 
the following matters: 

i. Taxation and the contracting of indebtedness. 

1 See Appendix. 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


49 


2. The administration and disposal of all property 
acquired in Porto Rico by the United States under cession 
of Spain and placed under the control of the Government 
of Porto Rico by virtue of the Organic Act now in force. 

3. The revision of the boundaries of senatorial and rep¬ 
resentative districts. 

4. The creation, consolidation, reorganization and abo¬ 
lition of municipalities and their officers. 

5. The consolidation and abolition, subject to the 
approval of the President of the United States, of the 
Insular Executive Departments. 

6. The regulation of the rates, tariffs and service of 
public carriers by rail in Porto Rico. 

7. The organization, modification and rearrangement 
of all the courts, except the District Court of the United 
States for Porto Rico. 

8. The regulation of the salaries of all Insular Officials 
and employees not appointed by the President. 

Limitations of the Legislature .— The authority of the 
Legislature of Porto Rico is limited by the Constitution 
of the United States, by the Porto Rico Bill of Rights, 
which is part of the Organic Law of Porto Rico, and by the 
following specific provisions: 

1. The right of the Congress of the United States to 
annul any and all the laws passed by the Legislature of 
Porto Rico. 

2. The veto power of the Governor. 

3. The veto power of the President. 

4. No law may be passed except by bill, and no bill may 
be so altered or amended on its passage through either 
house as to change its original purpose. 


5 ° 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


5. No act of the Legislature except the general appro¬ 
priation bills for the expenses of the Government shall 
take effect until ninety days after its passage, unless in 
case of emergency (which shall be expressed in the pre¬ 
amble or body of the act) the Legislature by a vote of two- 
thirds of all the members elected to each house otherwise 
direct. 

6. No bill, except the general appropriation bill for the 
expenses of the Government only, introduced in either 
house of the Legislature after the first forty days of the 
session, may become a law. 

7. No bill may be considered or become a law unless 
referred to a committee, returned therefrom, and printed 
for the use of the members. Either house may, however, 
by a majority vote, discharge a committee from the con¬ 
sideration of a measure and bring it before the body for 
consideration. 

8. No bill, except general appropriation bills, may be 
passed containing more than one subject, which must be 
clearly expressed in its title. However, if any subject is 
embraced in any act which is not expressed in the title, 
such act is void only as to so much thereof as is not so 
expressed. 

9. No law may be revived, or amended, or the provi¬ 
sions thereof extended or conferred by reference to its title 
only, but so much thereof as is revived, amended, extended 
or conferred shall be re-enacted and published at length. 

10. The Legislature must prescribe by law the number, 
duties and compensation of the officers and employees of 
each house; and no payment may be made for services to 
the Legislature from the treasury, or be in any way au- 


THE ORGANIC LAW 51 

thorized to any person, except to an acting officer or em¬ 
ployee elected or appointed in pursuance of law. 

11. No bill may be passed giving any extra compensa¬ 
tion to any public officer, servant or employee, agent or 
contractor, after services have been rendered or contract 
made. 

12. Except as otherwise provided in the Organic Law, 
no law may extend the term of any public officer, or in¬ 
crease or diminish his salary or emoluments after his elec¬ 
tion or appointment, nor permit any officer or employee 
to draw compensation for more than one office or position. 

13. All bills for raising revenue must originate in the 
House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or 
concur with amendments, as in case of other bills. 

14. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the con¬ 
currence of both houses may be necessary, except in the 
question of adjournment, or relating solely to the trans¬ 
action of business of the two houses, must be presented to 
the Governor, and before it can take effect be approved by 
him, or, being disapproved, shall be repassed by two- 
thirds of both houses, according to the rules and limita¬ 
tions prescribed in case of a bill. (See paragraph on 
“How Bills become Laws.”) 

Appropriations .— If at the termination of any fiscal 
year the appropriations necessary for the support of the 
Government for the ensuing fiscal year have not been 
made, the several sums appropriated in the last appropria¬ 
tion bills for the objects and purposes therein specified, so 
far as the same may be applicable, are deemed to be re- 
appropriated item by item. 

The general appropriation bill may embrace nothing 


5 2 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


but appropriations for the ordinary expenses of the execu¬ 
tive, legislative and judicial departments, interest on the 
public debt, and for public schools. All other appropria¬ 
tions must be made by separate bills, each embracing but 
one subject. 

In case the available revenues of Porto Rico for any 
fiscal year, including surplus in the Insular Treasury, are 
insufficient to meet all the appropriations made by the 
Legislature for such year, such appropriations must be 
paid in full in the following order, unless otherwise directed 
by the Governor. 

First: The ordinary expenses of the legislative, execu¬ 
tive and judicial departments, and interest on any public 
debt. 

Second: Appropriations for all institutions, such as the 
Penitentiary, Insane Asylum, Industrial School and the 
like, where the inmates are confined involuntarily. 

Third: Appropriations for education and educational 
and charitable institutions. 

Fourth: Appropriations for any other officer or officers, 
bureaus or boards, paid in full. 

Fifth: Appropriations for all other purposes. 

No appropriations may be made in excess of the total 
revenues of the Island without levying a sufficient tax to 
increase said revenues to the desired amount. 

The Governor may veto any appropriation items. 

How Bills become Laws .— i. By passing both houses by 
a majority vote of all the members of each house, receiving 
the signature of the presiding officer of each house (who 
must sign in the presence of the house over which he pre¬ 
sides), and the signature of the Governor. 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


53 

In this connection, see limitations Nos. 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 
13 - 

2. By passing both houses, after having been vetoed by 
the Governor, by a two-thirds vote of all the members 
belonging to each house, and receiving the signatures of 
the presiding officers and the Governor. 

3. By failure of the Governor to return bill with his dis¬ 
approval within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it has 
been presented him, unless the Legislature by adjourn¬ 
ment prevents its return, in which case it becomes a law if 
signed by the Governor within thirty days after receipt 
by him, and not otherwise. 

4. By receiving the signature of the President of the 
United States over the Governor’s veto. 

(If after a bill has been reconsidered by the Legislature 
and passed by a two-thirds majority the Governor still 
objects to it, he must transmit it to the President of the 
United States, who then exercises his veto power. If the 
President approves the bill he signs it and it becomes a 
law; if he does not approve it, he must return it to the 
Governor within ninety days after its submission to him 
stating that he does not approve it.) 

5. By failure of the President of the United States to 
return a bill to the Governor of Porto Rico within ninety 
days after said bill has been submitted to the President 
for his approval. 

Resident Commissioner to the United States .— Elected 
every four years by the qualified voters. He must be 
at least twenty-five years of age, must be a bona-fide 
citizen of the United States, and must be able to read and 
write the English language. Any vacancy is filled by 


54 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


appointment by the Governor subject to ratification by 
the Senate of Porto Rico. 

Resident Commissioners are elected quadrennially be¬ 
ginning the first Tuesday following the first Monday of 
November of the year 1920 and begin their terms the 
fourth day of March next following their election. 

The annual salary of the Resident Commissioner is the 
same as that of members of the United States House of 
Representatives and he is granted the same allowance for 
clerk hire and for stationery. He also receives $500 allow¬ 
ance as mileage for each regular and special session of the 
Congress and has the franking privilege. 

By courtesy of the House of Representatives of the 
United States, the Resident Commissioner has a seat in 
that house and he is permitted to speak on matters which 
deal solely with Porto Rico, but he has no vote. 

3 . The Executive Power 

The Governor of Porto Rico .— He is appointed by the 
President of the United States with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the Senate of the United States and holds office 
during the pleasure of the President and until his successor 
is chosen and qualified. He must reside in Porto Rico 
during his official incumbency and maintain his office at 
the seat of Government. He has general supervision and 
control of all the departments and bureaus of the Govern¬ 
ment of Porto Rico, subject to the provisions of the Or¬ 
ganic Act. He is commander in chief of the militia. He 
may grant pardons and reprieves and remit fines and for¬ 
feitures for offenses against the laws of Porto Rico. He 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


55 


may grant respites for offenses against the laws of the 
United States until the decision of the President can be 
ascertained. He may veto legislation. He commissions 
all officers that he is authorized to appoint. He is respon¬ 
sible for the faithful execution of the laws of Porto Rico 
and of the United States applicable in Porto Rico. He 
may mobilize the military and naval forces of the United 
States in the Island, summon the posse comitatus or call 
out the militia to prevent or suppress lawless violence, 
invasion, insurrection or rebellion. In case of rebellion or 
invasion, he may suspend the writ of habeas corpus and 
declare martial law, subject to confirmation by the Presi¬ 
dent. He must render an annual report of the transac¬ 
tions of the Government of Porto Rico. He appoints, 
with the advice and consent of the Senate of Porto Rico, 
the Treasurer of Porto Rico, the Commissioner of the 
Interior, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor, the 
Commissioner of Health, the Executive Secretary, the 
judges, fiscales, marshals and secretaries of all the courts, 
except the justices of the Supreme Court and the judge, 
the district attorney, the marshal and other officials and 
assistants of the District Court of the United States for 
Porto Rico. He performs other duties assigned to him 
by the President of the United States and makes other 
appointments as provided by the Legislature of Porto 
Rico. 

He draws an annual salary of $10,000 and is entitled to 
occupy, free of rental, all the buildings used by the Chief 
Executive. 

Executive Departments .— The Organic Act provides for 
a Department of Justice, a Department of Finance, a 


56 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Department of the Interior, a Department of Education, 
a Department of Agriculture and Labor, and a Depart¬ 
ment of Health. The office of Secretary of Porto Rico has 
been abolished, but an Executive Secretary, appointed by 
the Governor and confirmed by the Senate of Porto Rico, 
has been provided for. This secretary performs the duties 
formerly discharged by the Secretary of Porto Rico, and 
he receives a salary of $4,000 per year. The office of 
Director of Labor, Charities and Correction has been 
abolished. 

The titles of the heads of the departments are respec¬ 
tively: Attorney General, Treasurer, Commissioner of the 
Interior, Commissioner of Education, Commissioner of 
Agriculture and Labor, and Commissioner of Health. 

Executive Council .— The six heads of departments 
constitute an Executive Council. Their duties as mem¬ 
bers of the Executive Council are such as the Legislature 
may give them, or as the Governor, with the approval of 
the President of the United States, may assign them. 

This body remains as a Canvassing Board in elections, 
and it exercises a few other powers, such as the approval of 
municipal loans, and the sale of insular bonds. The Exec¬ 
utive Council seldom meets; it is, properly speaking, a 
council to the Governor. 

Public Service Commission .— The six heads of the execu¬ 
tive departments, the Auditor, and two others elected by 
the qualified voters of Porto Rico, constitute a public-ser¬ 
vice commission to grant franchises, rights and privileges 
of a public or quasi-public nature, subject to the approval 
of the Governor and the subsequent ratification or annul¬ 
ment by the Congress. All duties of this nature formerly 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


57 


exercised by the Executive Council are now conferred 
upon the Public Service Commission. The two members 
of the Public Service Commission elected by the people 
receive $8 per day for each session attended but in no 
event may the salary paid amount to more than $400 per 
annum. 

The Executive Secretary is ex-officio secretary of the 
Public Service Commission, but an additional secretary 
has been provided for. 

Department of Justice .— The head of the Department 
of Justice is the Attorney General, appointed by the 
President with the advice and consent of the Senate of the 
United States. He holds office for four years and until his 
successor is appointed and has qualified, unless sooner re¬ 
moved by the President. He has a salary of $5,000. 

The Attorney General: 

1. Represents the People of Porto Rico in all suits and 
proceedings to which it is a party. 

2. Supervises the administrative affairs of the insular 
courts. 

3. Prepares and presents to the Supreme Court, when 
necessary, articles of impeachment against any judge or 
official. 

4. Files information before district courts in case of 
official misconduct of any officer or employee of the Insular 
Government. 

5. Gives opinions to the Governor, the heads of de¬ 
partments, the Assembly, or either house, on the interpre¬ 
tation, the construction and the execution of the laws. 

6. Reports on all applications for pardons. 

7. Approves bonds of certain officials, as to form. 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


58 


8. Has power to examine and investigate the offices of 
registrars of property. 

9. Reports to the Governor on affairs of his office. 

In general, has the powers and performs the duties of an 
attorney of a Territory of the United States. 

Department of Finance .— The head of the Department 
of Finance is the Treasurer of Porto Rico, appointed by 
the Governor with the advice and consent of the Insular 
Senate. He holds office for four years and until his suc¬ 
cessor is duly appointed and qualifies, unless sooner re¬ 
moved by the Governor. He is paid an annual salary of 
$5,000. 

The Treasurer of Porto Rico has the following powers 
and duties: 

1. He must give bond of not less than $125,000 to 
guarantee the faithful execution of his duties. 

2. He collects and is the custodian of public funds. 

3. He disburses public funds on warrants signed by the 
Auditor and countersigned by the Governor. 

4. He has charge of the assessment of all property in 
Porto Rico for purposes of taxation. 

5. He collects all taxes and keeps accounts and records 
of payments made by taxpayers. 

6. He examines and supervises banking, insurance and 
other financial institutions. 

7. He issues licenses to foreign corporations to do busi¬ 
ness in Porto Rico. 

8. He approves the bonds of certain officers. 

9. He supervises the financial affairs of the municipali¬ 
ties. 

10. He reports to the Governor on the affairs of his office. 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


59 


The Department of Finance is divided into: 

1. The Office of the Treasurer. 

2. The Bureau of Accounts and of the Paymaster. 

3. The Bureau of Municipal Finance. 

4. The Bureau of Property Taxes. 

5. The Bureau of Internal Revenue. 

Department of the Interior. — The head of the Depart¬ 
ment of the Interior is the Commissioner of the Interior, 
appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent 
of the Insular Senate. He holds office for four years and 
until his successor is duly appointed and qualifies, unless 
sooner removed by the Governor. He is paid an annual 
salary of $5,000. 

The Commissioner of the Interior has the following 
powers and duties: 

1. He superintends all works of a public nature. 

2. He has charge of all public buildings, grounds and 
lands, except those belonging to the United States. 

3. He may rent and sell certain lands. 

4. He reports to the Governor on the affairs of his office. 

The Department of the Interior is divided as follows: 

1. The Office of the Commissioner of the Interior. 

2. The Division of Public Lands and Archives. 

3. The Division of Harbors and Docks. 

4. The Division of Accounts. 

5. The Division of Public Works. 

6. The Division of Municipal Works. 

7. The Division of Public Buildings. 

8. The Bureau of the Insular Telegraph. 

Department of Education. — The head of the Department 

of Education is the Commissioner of Education, appointed 


6o 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate 
of the United States. He holds office for four years and 
until his successor is duly appointed and qualifies, unless 
sooner removed by the President. He is paid an annual 
salary of $5,000. 

The Commissioner of Education has the following 
powers and duties: 

1. He superintends public instruction throughout 
Porto Rico. 

2. He approves all proposed disbursements for educa¬ 
tion. 

3. He organizes and directs a system of public schools, 
higher institutions of learning, special schools, and other 
educational agencies. 

4. He examines candidates for certificates, issues 
licenses, appoints teachers of English, special teachers, 
district supervisors and superintendents, and he approves 
the appointment of all other teachers. 

. 5. He may suspend teachers and annul their contracts. 

6. He prepares courses of study. 

7. He selects and purchases school books, supplies, and 
equipment. 

8. He approves plans for public school buildings. 

9. He is ex-officio Chancellor of the University of Porto 
Rico and President of the Board of Trustees. 

The Department of Education has the following di¬ 
visions: 

1. The Office of the Commissioner of Education. 

2. The Division of Supervision and Records. 

3. The Bureau of Municipal School Affairs. 

4. The Division of Property and Accounts. 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


6l 


Department of Agriculture and Labor .— The head of the 
Department of Agriculture and Labor is the Commissioner 
of Agriculture and Labor, appointed by the Governor with 
the advice and consent of the Insular Senate. He holds 
office for four years and until his successor is duly ap¬ 
pointed and qualifies, unless sooner removed by the 
Governor. He receives an annual salary of $5,000. 

The Organic Law says that the chief purpose of this 
department is “to foster, promote, and develop the agri¬ 
cultural interests and the welfare of the wage earners of 
Porto Rico, to improve their working conditions, and to 
advance their opportunities for profitable employment.” 

This department is divided into a Bureau of Agriculture 
and a Bureau of Labor. The Insular Experiment Station 
at Rfo Piedras is under the control of the Bureau of Agri¬ 
culture. This institution was originally established by the 
cane growers of Porto Rico for the study and promotion 
of sugar-cane cultivation. Its activities at the present 
time include the study of a wide variety of agricultural 
crops. 

The Department of Health. — The head of the Depart¬ 
ment of Health is the Commissioner of Health, appointed 
by the Governor with the advice and consent of the In¬ 
sular Senate. He holds office for four years and until his 
successor is duly appointed and qualifies, unless sooner 
removed by the Governor. He receives an annual salary 
of $5,000. 

The duties and powers of the Commissioner of Health 
are as follows: 

1. He has general charge of health and sanitation in the 
Island. 


62 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


2. He supervises, controls and administers charitable 
institutions supported by insular funds. 

3. He inspects and reports on private institutions. 

4. He inspects and reports on institutions belonging to 
cities and villages. 

5. He prepares rules and regulations for the govern¬ 
ment on administration of charitable and sanitary insti¬ 
tutions and on all other matters affecting public health. 

The Department of Health has the following divisions: 

1. Division of Sanitary Engineering. 

2. The Bacteriological Laboratory. 

3. The Bureau of Transmissible Diseases and Statistics. 

Among the institutions under the control of the Com¬ 
missioner of Health are: the Leper Colony, located on the 
Isle of Cabra; the Quarantine Hospital and the Insane 
Asylum, situated in San Juan; the Blind Asylum, situ¬ 
ated in Ponce; and the Girls’ and Boys’ Charity Schools, 
in Santurce. 

The Auditor of Porto Rico .— The Auditor of Porto Rico, 
another important administrative official, is appointed by 
the President with the advice and consent of the Senate 
of the United States. He holds office for four years and 
until his successor is appointed and qualifies, and receives 
the same salary as the heads of departments. 

This official checks all expenditures. He examines or 
audits all funds received for the account of the Govern¬ 
ment of Porto Rico and of the municipalities, including 
public trust funds and the proceeds of bond issues. He 
audits, in accordance with law and administrative regula¬ 
tions, all expenditures of funds or property pertaining to 
or held in trust by the Government of Porto Pico or the 


THE ORGANIC LAW 63 

municipalities or dependencies thereof. He performs a 
like duty with respect to all government branches. 

He keeps the general accounts of the Government and 
preserves the vouchers pertaining thereto. 

It is the duty of the Auditor to bring to the attention of 
the proper administrative officer expenditures of funds or 
property which, in his opinion, are irregular, unnecessary, 
excessive, or extravagant. The jurisdiction of the. auditor 
over accounts, whether of funds or of property, and all 
vouchers and records pertaining thereto, is exclusive. 
With the approval of the Governor, from time to time he 
makes and promulgates general or special rules and regu¬ 
lations not inconsistent with law covering the methods of 
accounting of public funds and property, and funds and 
property held in trust by the Government or any of its 
branches. 

The decisions of the Auditor are final, except that 
appeals therefrom may be taken by the party aggrieved 
or the head of the department concerned, within one year, 
to the Governor of Porto Rico; but such appeals must be 
in writing, and the action of the Governor is final. 

In the execution of his duties, the Auditor is authorized 
to summon witnesses, administer oaths, and to take evi¬ 
dence; and, in pursuance of these provisions, may issue 
subpoenas and enforce the attendance of witnesses. 

The Executive Secretary .— The Executive Secretary is 
appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent 
of the Insular Senate. The length of his term of office is 
not fixed by the Organic Law. His salary is $4,000 a year. 

This official records and preserves all acts of the Public 
Service Commission, the laws enacted by the Legislature, 


64 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


and all acts and proceedings of the Governor. He pro¬ 
mulgates all proclamations and orders of the Governor 
and all laws enacted by the Legislature; and performs 
other duties assigned to him by the Governor or by act of 
the Legislature. He also keeps on file a record of reports 
of domestic and foreign corporations. He maintains a 
register of consuls and other official representatives of 
foreign nations and receives applications for and issues 
passports. 

There are two bureaus in his office, the work of which is 
disclosed by their titles: 

1. The Bureau of Weights and Measures. 

2. The Bureau of Supplies, Printing and Transporta¬ 
tion. 

All supplies for all departments must be bought through 
the Bureau of Supplies, Printing and Transportation, un¬ 
less otherwise specified by law. There is a well organized 
printing office for the printing of all reports, laws, decisions 
of courts, blanks, and other public documents. The 
Bureau of Supplies, Printing and Transportation has 
charge of government-owned automobiles which may be 
requisitioned for service by the heads of departments, the 
expenses of trips being charged against the department 
securing the service. 

4 . The Judicial Power 

The judicial system of Porto Rico comprises a supreme 
court, district courts, municipal courts, justice of the peace 
courts and a federal court. 

Supreme Court .— The Supreme Court of Porto Rico is 
composed of five judges — one Chief Justice and four 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


65 


Associate Justices — a fiscal or prosecuting attorney, 
a marshal, a secretary and other minor officials and 
employees. 

The five judges are appointed by the President with the 
advice and consent of the Senate of the United States. 
They hold office for an indefinite term, and receive com¬ 
pensation as follows: the Chief Justice, $6,500 per year; 
the four Associate Justices, $5,500 each per year. 

The marshal, the secretary and the fiscal are appointed 
by the Governor with the advice and consent of the 
Insular Senate. Their salaries are fixed by the Legislature 
of Porto Rico. 

The Supreme Court has jurisdiction: 

1. As a court of appeal in all civil and criminal cases 
where appeals are made from the decisions of the district 
courts. 

2. In cases of malfeasance of district judges or fiscales. 

The supreme Court may grant writs of habeas corpus. 

District Courts .— The Island is divided into seven judi¬ 
cial districts with headquarters as follows: San Juan, 
Humacao, Guayama, Ponce, Mayaguez, Aguadilla and 
Arecibo. Each district court, except that of San Juan, 
consists of one judge, a prosecuting attorney or fiscal, a 
marshal, a secretary and minor officials and employees. 
There are two judges in the district court of San Juan, 
each presiding over a separate division. 

The judges, fiscales, secretaries and marshals of the dis¬ 
trict courts are appointed by the Governor for a term of 
four years with the advice and consent of the Insular 
Senate. Their salaries are fixed by the Legislature. 

The district courts have original jurisdiction over cases 


66 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


of felonies and civil suits where the amount in controversy 
exceeds $500, and they act as courts of appeals from the 
decisions of the lower courts. They may grant writs of 
habeas corpus and of mandamus. 

Municipal Courts. — The municipal courts consist of a 
judge, a secretary and a marshal, appointed by the Gov¬ 
ernor, with the advice and consent of the Insular Sen¬ 
ate, for a term of four years. Their salaries are fixed 
by the Legislature. 

The municipal courts have jurisdiction over all minor 
crimes and misdemeanors, over violations of municipal 
ordinances where there is no justice of the peace, and over 
civil suits where the amount involved does not exceed $500. 

Justice Courts. — These courts are generally found in the 
larger towns only. They consist of a justice of the peace, 
appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent 
of the Insular Senate, for a term of four years, and a 
secretary and a bailiff appointed by the justice of the 
peace. The salaries of these officials are paid from muni¬ 
cipal funds. 

These courts have jurisdiction over cases which involve 
fines of not more than $15 or imprisonment not in excess 
of thirty days. They try, also, all cases of violations of 
municipal ordinances. In the absence of municipal judges, 
justices of the peace may act as examining and committing 
magistrates. 

The United States District Court for the District of Porto 
Rico. — This court consists of a judge, a district attorney, 
a marshal and various minor officials and assistants. The 
judge, the district attorney and the marshal are appointed 


THE ORGANIC LAW 67 

by the President with the advice and consent of the 
Senate of the United States for a term of four years. 

Their salaries are as follows: Judge, $5,000; District 
Attorney, $4,000; Marshal, $3,500. 

The court has general jurisdiction in criminal cases 
where the one being tried is not a citizen of Porto Rico or 
of the United States and in civil cases where one or more 
of the parties is not domiciled in Porto Rico and the, 
amount at suit involves at least $3,000. In general, its 
jurisdiction is the same as that of the district courts of the 
United States, trying all offenses against the Federal 
Government and its laws. 

5. Other Insular Organizations 

Civil Service Commission .— The Civil Service Law of 
Porto Rico provides for a commission consisting of three 
members: a chairman, who is also chief examiner, and 
two other commissioners, all of which are appointed by the 
Governor. This commission has charge of all examinations, 
held under the classified civil service and furnishes those 
in charge of each department with lists of eligible candi¬ 
dates. 

This commission has charge also of the examina¬ 
tions given under the authority of the United States Civil 
Service Commission. All papers in connection with such 
examinations are sent to the general office at Washington. 

Generally speaking, the classified civil service embraces 
all civil offices except those filled directly by the President 
of the United States, by the Governor of Porto Rico, or by 
the municipal authorities. 

University of Porto Rico .— This institution was created 


68 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


by an act of the Legislature. It is governed by a Board 
of Trustees of which the Commissioner of Education is 
Chancellor. It is not a part of the Department of Educa¬ 
tion. 

The University of Porto Rico is divided into various 
branches: the Normal Department, the College of Law, 
the College of Pharmacy, the College of Liberal Arts, the 
College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, and the Uni¬ 
versity High School. All of these schools, or colleges, 
except the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, are 
located at Rio Piedras. The College of Agriculture is 
located at Mayaguez. 

At Rio Piedras a Practice School is maintained in 
connection with the Normal School. 

The University is supported by insular appropriations 
and the Morril Fund, which is received annually from the 
Government of the United States. The Morril Fund 
amounts to $50,000. 

Carnegie Library .— The Insular Library, located at 
San Juan, has been renamed the Carnegie Library be¬ 
cause the edifice it occupies is a gift of Andrew Carnegie. 
It is supported by insular appropriations and governed 
by a Board of Trustees composed of seven members. The 
Commissioner of Education, the Commissioner of the 
Interior and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are 
members ex-officio; four other members are appointed by 
the Governor, with the consent of the Senate of Porto 
Rico for a term of three years. The library provides free 
service to all inhabitants of Porto Rico, the municipalities 
of the interior being reached by means of travelling 
libraries. 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


69 


Institute of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene of Porto Rico. 
— This institution was organized for independent research 
work on tropical diseases and hygienic conditions. Its 
most significant achievement has been the study of the 
‘‘hook-worm” or uncinariasis. 

Board of Medical Examiners. — This Board has charge 
of the admission of all physicians to practice in Porto Rico. 
It grants licenses to practicantes and trained nurses. 

Board of Pharmacy. — This Board has charge of the 
granting of licenses to all pharmacists. 

Board of Dentistry. — This Board has charge of the 
granting of licenses to all dentists. 

Insular Police. — There is no local police in Porto Rico. 
The Insular Police Force is composed of a Chief, an Adju¬ 
tant, and district chiefs, known as officers, and sergeants, 
corporals and guardsmen. In addition to this force, there 
are more than 20 detectives. All appointments of offi¬ 
cers are made by the Governor with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the Senate. Appointments of sergeants, corporals 
and guardsmen are made by competitive examination in 
accordance with regulations provided by the Insular Police 
Commission, a body of three citizens appointed by the 
Governor. The police is a great law-enforcing arm of the 
Governor of Porto Rico, but the actual work of the police 
is under the control of the Chief of Police. 

6. Citizenship 

American citizenship was conferred on the people of 
Porto Rico by the act of March 2, 1917, which provided a 
new organic law for the Island. The “Foraker Act” had 
declared the Porto Ricans citizens of Porto Rico. 


7 o 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


By the act of March 2, 1917, the citizens of Porto Rico 
became collectively and automatically citizens of the 
United States. Those who did not wish to become Ameri¬ 
can citizens, however, had six months to declare their in¬ 
tention of retaining their status. Few refused to accept 
American citizenship so that practically all the natives 
of Porto Rico are now citizens of the United States. 

All foreign residents of Porto Rico, who wish to become 
citizens of the United States, must comply with the natu¬ 
ralization laws of the United States. 

There are two steps in the process of securing citizen¬ 
ship: First, the aspirant must make out his declaration of 
intention (first papers) before the clerk of some court of 
record; secondly, he secures his naturalization papers by 
taking the oath of allegiance to the United States in open 
court provided that he has lived in the United States at 
least five years, and at least two years have passed since 
his declaration of intention to become a citizen was made. 

7. Elections 

Board of Elections .— There is a permanent board of 
elections, known as the Insular Board of Elections, com¬ 
posed of a General Supervisor of Elections, who acts as 
chairman, and two persons representing the two principal 
parties of the Island. The General Supervisor of Elections 
is appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent 
of the Senate. He receives a yearly salary of $4,000. The 
other two members are appointed by the Governor on the 
recommendation of the central directing organizations of 
the two principal parties. 

The Insular Board of Elections has charge of the super- 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


71 


vision and direction of the elections in Porto Rico. It may 
approve rules and regulations to carry out the provisions 
of the Election Law and it is empowered to prepare blank 
forms for registration cards, tally sheets, challenges and 
counter-challenges, ballots and books for the registration 
of voters of each municipality or precinct. 

Qualifications of Voters .— Every male citizen of the 
United States, of the age of twenty-one years or over on 
the day of the election, who is not legally disqualified, and 
who has resided for one year prior to the date of the elec¬ 
tion in the municipality where the election is held, must 
vote in the election precinct where he is registered. For 
the purposes of registration, it is necessary for the person 
to have been a bona-fide resident of the municipality where 
he seeks to register as a voter for at least one year prior 
to the date of election. 

The following persons are not allowed to register, and if 
registered, cannot vote: (a) Those judicially declared un¬ 
qualified; ( b ) those convicted of electoral crimes or 
felony, except when pardoned; ( c ) those living on public 
charity or who are inmates of public charitable institu¬ 
tions; (d) those failing to vote at any general election 
held subsequent to the approval of this Act, but this bar 
exists only during the two following general elections. 

Date of Elections .— Elections are held every four years 
on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. 

Offices Filled by Election .— The following offices are 
filled by election; members of the municipal assemblies, 
members of the Legislature, public-service commissioners 
and a Resident Commissioner at Washington. 

District Political Divisions .— For purposes of registra- 


72 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


tion and election, the Island is divided into 35 representa¬ 
tive districts, 7 senatorial districts and as many election 
precincts as it has municipalities; but the municipalities 
which have more than one representative district are 
divided into as many precincts as they have representa¬ 
tive districts. Barrio Concejo of Utuado forms a sep¬ 
arate precinct. 

OUTLINE OF THE ORGANIC LAW 

1. The Bill of Rights 

a. Rights to life, liberty and property 

b. Rights of persons tried for crimes 

c. Right to bail 

d. Sacredness of contracts 

e. Imprisonment for debt 

/. The writ of habeas corpus 

g. Ex-post-facto laws and bills of attainder 

h. Confiscation and damage of private property 

i. Titles of nobility 

j. Excessive bail and fines and cruel punishments 

k. Unreasonable search 

l. Warrants for arrest or search 

m. Slavery and involuntary servitude 

n. Freedom of speech and press, right to assemble and 
right to petition Government 

0. Religious rights 

p. Use of public money and property for sectarian 
purposes 

q. Polygamy 

r. Uniform taxation 

s. Eight-hour day 

t. Employment of children under fourteen 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


73 


The Legislative Power 

a. The Senate 

(1) Membership 

(2) Election: how? when? 

(3) Qualifications 

(4) Term of office 

(5) Remuneration 

(6) President 

(7) Other officers and employees 

(8) Special powers 

(9) Vacancies 

b. The House of Representatives 

(1) Membership 

(2) Election: how? when? 

(3) Qualifications 

(4) Term of office 

(5) Remuneration 

(6) Names of members representing your district 

(7) Names of several other prominent Repre¬ 
sentatives 

(8) President 

(9) Other officers and employees 

(10) Vacancies 

(n) Special powers 

c. Sessions of the Legislature 

(1) Date 

(2) Frequency 

(3) Duration of regular sessions 

(4) Special sessions 

(u) Who calls them? 

(b) How long? 


74 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


d. Powers of the Legislature 

(1) Taxation and indebtedness 

(2) Disposal of property 

(3) Boundaries of senatorial and representative 
districts 

(4) Municipalities 

(5) Executive Departments 

(6) Regulation of public carriers 
(?) Organization of courts 

(8) Salaries 

e. Limitations of the Legislature 

(1) Congress’ veto 

(2) The President’s veto 

(3) The Governor’s veto 

(4) Alterations of bills 

(5) Time limitation for laws to become operative 

(6) Time limitation to introduce bills 

(7) Routine for handling bills 

(8) Limitation as to subject 

(9) Revival, amendment, etc., of laws by title 

(10) Number, duties and compensation of per¬ 
sonnel 

(n) Extra compensation for public servants and 
contractors 

(12) Extension of term of public officers 

(13) Revenue bills 

(14) Submission of orders and resolutions to the 
Governor 

/. Appropriations 

(1) Provision for failure of the Legislature to 
pass budget 

(2) Limitation as to what the General Appropria¬ 

tion Bill may embrace 


THE ORGANIC LAW 75 

(3) Provision for priority of payment of appro¬ 
priations 

g. The Resident Commissioner 

(1) Election 
* (2) Qualifications 

(3) Term of service 

(4) Remuneration 

(5) Powers and duties 

(6) Names of Commissioners to date 

3. The Executive Power 

a. The Governor 

(1) How appointed 

(2) Term of office 

(3) Official residence 

(4) Powers and duties 

(5) Compensation 

b. The Executive Departments 

(1) Number 

(2) Title of each head 

c. The Executive Council 

(1) Membership 

(2) Powers and duties 

d. The Public Service Commission 

(1) Membership 

(2) Powers and duties 

e. The Department of Justice 

(1) Title of head 

(2) Name of present incumbent 

(3) How appointed 

(4) Term of service 


76 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


(5) Compensation 

(6) Powers and duties 

/. The Department of Finance 

(1) Title of head 

(2) Name of present incumbent 

(3) How appointed 

(4) Term of service 

(5) Compensation 

(6) Powers and duties 

(7) Divisions 

g. The Department of the Interior 

(1) Title of head 

(2) Name of present incumbent 

(3) How appointed 

(4) Term of service 

(5) Compensation 

(6) Powers and duties 

(7) Divisions 

h. The Department of Education 

(1) Title of head 

(2) Name of present incumbent 

(3) How appointed 

(4) Term of service 

(5) Compensation 

(6) Powers and duties 

(7) Divisions 

i. The Department of Agriculture and Labor 

(1) Title of head 

(2) Name of present incumbent 

(3) How appointed 

(4) Term of Service 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


77 


(5) Compensation 

(6) Powers and duties of the Commissioner 

(7) Divisions of the Department 

j. The Department of Health 

(1) Title of the head 

(2) Name of present incumbent 

(3) How appointed 

(4) Term of service 

(5) Compensation 

(6) Powers and duties of the Commissioner 

(7) Divisions of the Department 

(8) Institutions under control of the department 

k. The Auditor of Porto Rico 


(1) 

Name of present incumbent 

(2) 

How appointed 

(3) 

Term of service 

(4) 

Compensation 

( 5 ) 

Powers and duties 

l. The Executive Secretary 

(1) 

Name of present incumbent 

(2) 

How appointed 

( 3 ) 

Term of service 

( 4 ) 

Compensation 

( 5 ) 

Powers and duties 

( 6 ) 

Bureaus under his control 

The Judicial Power 

a. The Supreme Court 

(1) 

Judges and other officers 

« 

How appointed 

(3) 

Term of office 

(4) 

Salary 


7 8 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


(5) Name of present incumbents 

(6) Jurisdiction of the court 

b. The District Courts 

(1) Number of courts 

(2) Officers of each court 

(3) How appointed 

(4) Term of office 

(5) Jurisdiction of the courts 

c. The Municipal Courts 

(1) Officers of each court 

(2) How appointed 

(3) Term of office 

(4) Jurisdiction of the courts 

d. Justice Courts 

(1) Officers of each court 

(2) How appointed 

(3) Jurisdiction of the courts 

e. The United States District Court for the District of 

Porto Rico 

(1) Officers of the court 

(2) How appointed 

(3) Salary 

(4) Court jurisdiction 

5. Other Insular Organizations 

a. The Civil Service Commission 

(1) Purpose of this organization 

(2) Board or Commission 

(a) How composed 

(b) How appointed 

(c) Duties 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


79 


(3) Examinations 

(a) When held 

( b ) List of eligibles 

(4) Rights of employees included in the Civil 

Service Register 

(5) Positions not included in the Civil Service 

organization 

b. The University of Porto Rico 

(1) Board of Trustees 

(2) Colleges 

(3) Funds 

c. The Carnegie Library 

(1) Board of Trustees 

(a) Membership 

( b ) How appointed 

(c) Term of Service 

(2) Funds 

d. The Institute of Tropical Medicine 

(1) Purpose 

e. The Board of Medical Examiners 

(1) Duties 

/. The Board of Pharmacy 
(1) Duties 

g. The Board of Dentistry 

(1) Duties 

h. The Insular Police 

(1) The Insular Police Commission 
(a) How appointed 
(1 b ) Duties 


8o 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


(2) The Chief of Police 

(a) How appointed 

( b ) Duties 

(3) The District Chiefs 

(a) How appointed 

(b ) Duties 

6. Citizenship 

(1) Citizens of Porto Rico 

(a) Who are they? 

(2) Citizens of the United States 

(3) Steps for naturalization 

7. Elections 

(1) Board of Elections 

(a) How appointed 

(b) Duties 

(2) Qualifications required of voters 

(3) When are elections held? 

(4) Offices filled by election: 

(а) Local 

(б) General 

(5) District Political Divisions: 

(a) Representative Districts 

( b ) Senatorial Districts 

PROBLEMS ON INSULAR GOVERNMENT 

1. Can the Governor lock up a citizen for writing an um 
truthful article against him? Can he expel from the Island 
an undesirable citizen? Can he suppress a newspaper that 
habitually publishes falsehoods? 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


81 


2. A man accused of murder is too poor to hire a lawyer to 
defend him. To what assistance is he entitled? 

3. A man has a drug store. He likes to play cards and bet 
on horse races more than to fill prescriptions. The store fails 
and the man owes his creditors $50,000. Can the creditors put 
him in jail? 

4. Name a law that might be considered ex-post-facto. 

5. A bill is presented to the Legislature to forbid religious 
processions. Can the Legislature pass such a law? Why? 

6. The following petitions are received by the Legislature: 
(a) to donate a piece of public land for a private school; ( b ) to 
appropriate $5000 to aid a hospital maintained by missionaries; 
( c ) to appropriate a sum of money for an asylum run by a 
private organization. Can the Legislature act favorably? 

7. A lawyer lives in Rio Piedras but has his office in San 
Juan where he goes every day. His friends propose him as a 
Representative for San Juan. Does he fulfill the residence 
requirement? 

8. The Representative of a certain district dies before the 
expiration of his term. How is the vacancy filled? 

9. Can the Legislature create a department of Rural Wel¬ 
fare? Suppose such a department were created, what should 
it do to improve rural life? 

10. The people of a certain section complain that the rail¬ 
road is not rendering good service. What steps can they take 
to remedy the evil? 

11. Bills, except the budget, introduced in either house 
after the first forty days of the session cannot be enacted into 
laws. Discuss the purpose of this limitation. Are you in 
favor of it? 

12. The people believe that a small tax should be levied 
on moving-picture theaters. Can Senator X present a bill in 
the Senate for this purpose? 

13. The Trolley Company in San Juan wishes to increase 


82 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


its fare to ten cents for trips within the city. What steps would 
the company have to take in order to make this increase 
effective? 

14. The Commissioner of Education of a certain town asked 
for the resignation of one of the teachers on the ground that 
she was born in Spain, and was not, therefore, an American 
citizen. What data would be required to decide whether the 
Commissioner was right or wrong? 

15. The Governor of Porto Rico wishes to have the Organic 
Act amended so that the Commissioner of Education and the 
Attorney General of the Island are appointed by him. How 
will he have to go about it? 

16. The Public Service Commissioner of a certain town 
needs a lot for the erection of a hospital, but the owner of the 
lot will not sell it. Can the Commissioner take possession of 
the lot? Give reasons. 

17. The catholic priests use wine for mass services. Is 
this an infringement of the Prohibition Law? 

18. The daughter of a French citizen went to the Normal 
School and obtained a diploma. Could the Department issue 
a license in her name? Give reasons for your answer. 

19. If you wanted a certain bill to go through the Senate, on 
how many senators would you have to count before you could 
be sure that the bill would be passed? 

20. The Governor appointed a new president of the Public 
Service Commission while the Senate was not in session. 
Until when does this appointment hold good? 

21. Can the Governor force the President of the Senate to 
resign? Give reasons. 

22. In the elections of 1916, both Mr. Valdes and Mr. del 
Moral claimed that they were elected to the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives by the Mayaguez district. Who decided the ques¬ 
tion? 

23. Acting Governor Benedicto did not sign the law abol- 


THE ORGANIC LAW 83 

ishing the death penalty. What was the result of his 
action? 

24. The Commissioner of Education of a certain town is 
appointed justice of the peace. What will he have to do to 
keep both positions? 

25. In a certain town a number of farmers told a representa¬ 
tive of the Department of the Interior that if the road that he 
was planning passed by their farms they would give him a 
very good present. Were these farmers violating any law in 
making this promise? 

26. If the following officers should resign, how would their 
places be filled? (a) Resident Commissioner; ( b ) Governor 
of Porto Rico; ( c ) Attorney General; ( d) President of the 
Senate; ( e) Member of the House of Representatives. 

27. You wish to establish an electric plant to furnish elec¬ 
tricity to the people of your town. To whom must you apply 
for the franchise? 

28. If you knew that a franchise had been unjustly granted 
to a person or corporation, and you wanted to protest, to 
whom would you address your appeal? 

29. If you were the President of the United States and a 
law of Porto Rico, passed over the Governor’s veto, were to 
reach you, would you sign it or veto it? Give your reasons. 

30. How could acting Governor Benedicto take thirty days 
to decide whether he would sign the death penalty or not? 

31. What, in your judgment, will the President take into 
consideration before appointing a man as Governor of Porto 
Rico? Explain the following statement: “The supreme execu¬ 
tive power in Porto Rico shall be vested in the Governor.” 
Who is the present Governor of Porto Rico? 

32. Why does the Governor read a message on the day of 
his inauguration? What is meant by the Governor taking the 
oath of office? Prepare an outline of the matters that may be 
discussed in a Governor’s message at present. 


8 4 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


33. Explain the terms, office, division, bureau, department. 

34. Explain the process followed in collecting taxes from 
a corporation, a firm, or an individual known to you. Consult 
the Collector of Internal Revenue about this matter. 

35. Describe the routine which precedes the construction of 
a public building, bridge, or road. 

36. Suppose that an insect pest appears in the tobacco 
plantations of your municipality and threatens to destroy the 
crop. The aid of the Government is asked and given. What 
department will take action in this case? 

37. If an epidemic appears in your town, what department 
will take action? How? 

38. If the Municipal Commissioner of Finance embezzles 
the public funds and the case is reported, what executive 
authority will conduct an investigation? Why? 

39. The workers on a sugar plantation go on a strike. What 
department may intervene to bring about a settlement. Why? 

40. Name some instances in which the Governor may make 
use of the militia. 

41. Find out the process followed by the Governor in pardon¬ 
ing a criminal and explain it to the class. 

42. Explain the following statement: “The heads of de¬ 
partments shall perform their duties under the supervision of 
the Governor.” 

43. Write a letter to the Governor requesting him not to 
appoint a certain candidate to a certain position. Give your 
reasons. 

44. Find out where the public lands are located; investigate 
why they have become public property; how they are cared for; 
how they are disposed of. 

45. Discuss the following statement: “The Commissioner of 
Education shall superintend public instruction throughout 
Porto Rico.” 

46. What work is done by the following public officers: 


THE ORGANIC LAW 


85 

President Civil Service Commission; Executive Secretary of 
Porto Rico; School Supervisor; Sanitation Officer; Food In¬ 
spector; Chief of Police; Labor Inspector; Agricultural Agent? 

47. Name the persons who compose the Executive Council 
at present. 

48. What is a Governor’s Proclamation? On what occa¬ 
sions does the Governor issue proclamations? 

49. Get a copy of the insular budget. Find out what salary 
the Governor gets. How much is appropriated for his office 
and other expenses? Find the amount appropriated for each 
department. Why is the largest part of the budget devoted to 
education? 

50. State what the Governor can do in cases of emergency 
like the following: Serious epidemic; destruction of large 
number of homes by fire, cyclone, or earthquakes; strikes; 
riots; invasion. 

51. Explain the meaning of the following expressions con¬ 
nected with your lessons in civil government: posse comitatus; 
veto; martial law; writ of habeas corpus; advice and consent; 
rebellion; revenues; vouchers; fiscal concerns; subpoena. 

52. State the procedure for filling a vacancy in the Supreme 
Court of Porto Rico. 

53. Discuss the organization of Districts Courts in Porto 
Rico. 

54. Discuss the organization of Municipal Courts in Porto 
Rico. 

55. Discuss the organization of Peace Courts in Porto Rico. 

56. Discuss the organization of the District Court of the 
United States for Porto Rico. 

57. Discuss briefly and in a concrete manner the procedure 
for appeals from the insular courts to the United States Courts 
of Appeals. 

58. Discuss the political status of foreigners in Porto Rico. 

59. How are foreigners made American citizens? 


86 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


60. Discuss the political status of a Porto Rican American 
citizen in the State of New York. 

61. What is the status of married women as regards citizen¬ 
ship? 

62. Find out how many cuerdas of land are owned by the 
Government of Porto Rico. To what uses is this land put? 
Can you suggest any other uses to which it might be put? 

63. The Reform School for juvenile delinquents is under 
the direction of the Department of Justice. Do you know any 
good reasons why this institution should be placed under the 
direction of some other department? 

64. Name a few specific things that the Department of 
Agriculture is doing to help the people. 

65. Find out all you can about the Leper Colony and the 
Insane Asylum. 

66. Find out what work is done by the Bureau of Weights 
and Measures and by the Bureau of Supplies, Printing and 
Transportation. 

67. If you want to secure a position as stenographer in one 
of the executive departments, what must you do? Discuss 
fully. 

68. A young man has studied dentistry in the United States 
and returns to Porto Rico with his diploma or degree. What 
must he do before he can practice his profession? 

69. When a citizen promises under oath to uphold the 
Constitution of the United States, what obligations does he 
incur? 

70. Discuss the various steps necessary to exercise the right 
of suffrage in Porto Rico. Do you know what “universal 
suffrage” is? Do you believe in it? Why? 


PART III 


THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
UNITED STATES 

The last sixteen weeks of the school year are devoted to 
a review of the Municipal Law and the Organic Act of 
Porto Rico and to a study of the Constitution of the 
United States as the foundation of the national Govern¬ 
ment. Copy of the Constitution may be found in the 
Appendix. For further guidance, the teacher should fol¬ 
low some good text on Civics, such as James and San¬ 
ford’s Government of State and Nation. 

The following parallel outlines should prove useful in a 
comparative study of the Insular Government of Porto 
Rico and the Federal Government. 


Congress of the United 
States 

Composed of two houses. 
Houses called Senate and 
House of Representatives. 


Legislature of Porto 
Rico 

Composed of two houses. 
Houses called Senate and 
House of Representatives. 


Senate 


Senators serve six years. 
Terms of one-third of Sena¬ 
tors expire every two years. 
Elected by the qualified elec¬ 
tors of each state. 


Senators serve four years. 
Terms of all Senators expire 
every four years. Elected by 
the qualified electors of each 
district except five which are 
elected at large. 


88 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Must be at least 30 years of 
age, nine years a citizen of the 
United States and an inhabi¬ 
tant of the State where elec¬ 
ted. Each State elects two 
Senators. 


Each Senator gets $7,500 
annually, 20 cents mileage, 
clerk hire, and franking privi¬ 
lege. 


There are 96 Senators of 
the United States, two from 
each state. Vacancies are 
filled temporarily by the Gov¬ 
ernor until State Legislature 
sets day of election. 


Must be at least 30 years of 
age, have resided in Porto 
Rico two years and in the dis¬ 
trict one year (except in case 
of Senator-at-large), and must 
be able to read and write 
either the Spanish or English 
language. 

Each Senator gets $7 a day 
for a period not to exceed 90 
days in a regular session, 10 
cents each way for each kilo¬ 
meter traveled in going to or 
returning from the sessions of 
the Legislature. 

There are 19 Senators of 
Porto Rico, two from each of 
the seven districts and five 
Senators-at-large. Vacancies 
are filled by special election. 


House of Representatives 


Representatives serve two 
years. Apportioned among 
the several States according 
to population, which is deter¬ 
mined by the decennial cen¬ 
sus ; but each State must have 
at least one Representative. 
Representatives are elected by 
the qualified electors of each 
district. There are 435 repre- 


Representatives serve four 
years. There are 35 repre¬ 
sentative districts in Porto 
Rieo. One Representative is 
elected from each district. 
There are also four Represen- 
tatives-at-large. There are 39 
Representatives in all. Must 
be at least 25 years of age, a 
resident of the district from 


THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 89 


sentatives. Must be at least 
25 years of age, seven years a 
citizen of the United States, 
and an inhabitant of the State 
where elected. 


which elected at least one year 
(except in the case of Repre- 
sentatives-at-large) and must 
be able to read and write 
either the Spanish or English 
language. 


Legislative Sessions 


Congress meets the first 
Monday of December every 
year. 

The President may call Con¬ 
gress in special session — no 
limit set as to length of ses¬ 
sion. 


The regular sessions of the 
Legislature are held every two 
years, beginning the second 
Monday of February. 

The Governor may call spe¬ 
cial sessions but no such ses¬ 
sion lasts more than 10 days. 


Privileges of each House and of Members 
Each house elects its own Identical with that of Con- 
officers. gress. 


Each house is judge of the 
election qualifications and re¬ 
turns of its own members. 

The members of each house 
are entitled to freedom of ar¬ 
rest while going to or return¬ 
ing from their houses or while 
in attendance on the same. 
There is absolute freedom of 
debate. 

Each house makes its own 
rules 


Identical with that of Con¬ 
gress. 

Identical with that of mem¬ 
bers of Congress. 


Identical with that of Con¬ 
gress. 


go 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Law Making 

Bills, except for revenue, Identical, 
may originate in either house; 
revenue bills must originate 
in the House of Representa¬ 
tives. 


A bill passed by both houses 
must be presented to the Pres¬ 
ident for signature. If he 
signs it, it becomes a law at 
time fixed in the bill; if he 
does not sign it, he must re¬ 
turn it with his objections 
within ten days, to the house 
where it originated. 

Any bill returned to either 
house with the objections of 
the President can be reconsid¬ 
ered and, if passed by a two- 
thirds vote, becomes a law 
without the President’s signa¬ 
ture. 

In the event that the Presi¬ 
dent neither signs a bill nor 
returns it with his objections 
within io days, it becomes a 
law as if signed by the chief 
executive. 


Identical, except that bills 
are presented to the Gover¬ 
nor, and that all laws, except 
emergency acts or the general 
appropriation bill, become ef¬ 
fective within 90 days. 


Bills reconsidered and 
passed over the Governor’s 
veto by a two-thirds vote be¬ 
come laws if he signs them. 
If the Governor still objects 
to them, he must submit them 
to the President. 

Bills submitted to the Presi¬ 
dent by the Governor become 
laws if the President signs 
them or fails to take action 
on them within ninety days. 


Powers of Legislation 

The field of legislation is en- The powers of legislation 
tirely different. Certain pow- are delegated directly by the 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 91 

ers are granted exclusively to Organic Act and any act of 
Congress and prohibited to the Legislature can be an- 
States. nulled by Congress. 

Read carefully sections 8, 9 and 10 of Article I of the 
Constitution of the United States, and choose ten powers 
that Congress may exercise and which are not granted to 
the States or to Porto Rico. 

No State can levy' any duty upon imports, nor impose 
excises, except such as may be necessary for inspection 
laws, nor use customs or excises as revenue. These sources 
of taxation belong exclusively to the Federal Government. 
In Porto Rico the income from customs is turned into 
the Insular Treasury. Federal internal revenue and in¬ 
come tax laws do not apply to the Island. Porto Rico 
contributes nothing whatever towards the support of the 
United States Government. 


Executive 


President of the United 
States 

Elected by presidential elec¬ 
tors; each State has as many 
electors as it has Representa¬ 
tives and Senators. Organized 
Territories have nothing to do 
with the election of President. 

Term of office — 4 years. 


Governor of Porto 
Rico 

Appointed by the President 
of the United States with the 
advice and consent of the Sen¬ 
ate of the United States. 


Holds office at the pleasure 
of the President. 


Must be at least 35 years of No qualifications specified, 
age, and a natural-born citi¬ 


zen. 


9 2 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Receives $75,000 a year, 
and lives in the Executive 
Mansion, the White House. 

In case of death, resigna¬ 
tion, or inability on part of the 
President to discharge his du¬ 
ties the Vice-President suc¬ 
ceeds to the office of President. 
No provision has been made 
for an acting President. 


Receives $10,000 a year and 
lives in the Government 
House, “La Fortaleza.” 

The President designates 
the head of a department to 
serve as Acting Governor in 
the event of the Governor 
leaving the Island tempo¬ 
rarily. 


The executive powers of the President and of Governor 
are largely identical. The President discharges certain 
functions which are, of course, of a Federal nature, such as 
receiving ambassadors. 


Courts 


Supreme Court of the 
United States 

Nine members: One Chief 
Justice and eight associate 
Justices. 

Appointed by the President 
of the United States, with the 
consent of the Senate, for life 
or good behavior. 

Circuit Court of Appeals 
for each Circuit Court District. 

Circuit Courts — There are 
nine circuit-courts district. 


Supreme Court of 
Porto Rico 

Five members: One Chief 
Justice and four Associate 
Justices. 

Appointed in identical man¬ 
ner for an indefinite term. 


No such court. 

District Courts — These 
courts occupy about the same 
relative positions as the Cir¬ 
cuit Courts. There are seven 
Court-Districts in Porto Rico. 


THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 93 


District Courts 

Each State has at least one 
district court. There are 
many courts of this class. 

In general, the organization of the Porto Rico courts is 
similar to that of the courts of the States and organized 
Territories. In all Territories district-court judges are 
appointed for four years only as in the case of the United 
States District Judge for Porto Rico. All judges in Porto 
Rico, except those of the Supreme Court, hold office for 
four years only; in the United States all judges, except 
United States district judges in Territories, hold office for 
life or during good behavior. 

Elections 

The right to vote is regulated by the constitutions and 
laws of the various States. The Constitution of the United 
States forbids the States to deny any person the right to 
vote because of sex, race, color, or previous condition of 
servitude. 

Presidents are elected indirectly — not directly by the 
people. Senators represent States; Representatives rep¬ 
resent the People; the President is supposed to represent 
both States and People. The Constitution prescribes that 
presidential electors shall be chosen in each State “in such 
manner as the Legislature thereof may direct.” 

At the time of Washington’s first election presidential 
electors were elected by the State Legislatures. This 
practice was continued in South Carolina until she was re¬ 
stored to the Union after the Civil War. Gradually State 


Municipal Courts 

Each municipality has one 
court. 


94 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Legislatures began to prescribe that these electors should 
be chosen at a general election, until now this is the general 
practice. 

In a democracy there are always political parties. The 
two major parties in the United States at the present time 
are the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. 
The organization of these parties follows the same general 
lines of similar bodies in Porto Rico. Each party is di¬ 
rected by a National Committee whose influence extends 
to every State and subdivision. The National Committees 
take charge of all elections. In most States “primary 
elections,” (elections within each party) are held to de¬ 
termine the local candidates for office; but the President 
and Vice-President are nominated in national conventions 
of each party. The delegates to these conventions are 
chosen by the parties of each State. Each party usually 
has about twice as many delegates as it has Congressmen. 

The dates of the meeting of national conventions to 
nominate the President are set by the National Executive 
Committee of each party. This party convention also 
adopts a party platform, or declaration of principles. 

In a national convention of the Republican Party a 
majority of the delegates nominate the candidate and 
every delegate votes his individual preference; in the 
national convention of the Democratic Party the “cloture 
rule” prevails and a two-thirds vote is required to nomi¬ 
nate. The term “cloture rule” means that all the dele¬ 
gates of each State, or Territory, after determining the 
matter among themselves, must cast all the votes of that 
State or Territory for one candidate. 

General election day is the first Tuesday following the 


THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 95 

first Monday in November. Presidential years are years 
that are divisible by four. 

Pbesident’s Cabinet 

The members of the President’s Cabinet are: 

The Secretary of State — Department of State. 

The Secretary of the Treasury — Department of the 
Treasury. 

The Secretary of War — Department of War. 

The Attorney General — Department of Justice. 

The Postmaster General — Post Office Department. 

The Secretary of the Navy — Department of the Navy. 
The Secretary of the Interior — Department of the Interior. 
The Secretary of Agriculture — Department of Agriculture. 
The Secretary of Commerce — Department of Commerce. 
The Secretary of Labor — Department of Labor. 

All members of the Cabinet are appointed by the Presi¬ 
dent with the advice and consent of the Senate, but the 
President may remove them at pleasure. Besides their 
duties as heads of the executive departments, the Presi¬ 
dent calls them together in meetings of the Cabinet for 
the purpose of securing their advice. 

President Harding has inaugurated the custom of in¬ 
viting the Vice-President to attend Cabinet meetings. 

The relation of these departments to the Government 
of Porto Rico should be studied closely as outlined in Vol. 
2, Moral and Civic Training. 


96 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


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years, 4 every five years, and bers had to be natives of Porto ship expire at the same time. 

held office until the expiration Rico. Members held office for They are elected by the quali- 

of their terms unless the Coun- four years, subject to reap- fied voters of each district 

cil was dissolved by the Gover- pointment. except the Senators-at-large 






AUTONOMY CHART FORAKER ACT JONES ACT 

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COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ORGANIC LAWS 97 


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which a regular session of the 

Legislature is not provided for. 





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council was not in session. 

Representatives could not 
be arrested or indicted while 
Parliament was in session, un¬ 
less found in fraganti. 






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power to legislate on: had power to legislate on such tive Assembly under this act 

i. All matters not specially or general matters as were spec- are similar, in a general way, 

expressly reserved to the Cortes ifically mentioned in the Or- to those granted by the For- 

or to the Central Government, ganic Law. In this particular, aker Act. See Appendix IX. 






102 


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4. The tariff, and to fix The Legislative Assembly 

duties. had no exclusive right to legis¬ 

late on local matters. And it 
could not legislate on public 
health by sea, on the mone- 





AUTONOMY CHART FORAKER ACT JONES ACT 

tary system or on the tariff I 
because these are Federal func¬ 
tions. 


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inate only in the Chamber of 
Representatives. The Gov¬ 
ernor, through his Secretaries, 








AUTONOMY CHART* FORAKER ACT JONES ACT 

had the right to present bills 
in both chambers. 


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a memorandum of objections, return a bill within ten days, approves the bill, he signs it 

Parliament could, in view of it became a law unless the and it becomes a law. If he 

the objections, reconsider or Legislative Assembly prevented does not approve it, he returns 

modify the bills. If the Coun- its return by adjourning. it to the Governor and the 

cil failed to express an opinion Congress had the right to bill does not become a law. 





AUTONOMY CHART FORAKER ACT JONES ACT 


COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ORGANIC LAWS 105 


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The Governor General The Governor The Governor 

The supreme authority was The Governor was appoin- As under the Foraker Act. 

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AUTONOMY CHART FORAKER ACT JONES ACT 

laws and certain consti- that were not locally in- Insular Senate, the Treas- 

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10 . Granted pardons. habeas corpus. 

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Parliament. Rico and maintain an 





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partments: nance. 





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Each municipality had one One in each of the principal Constituted as under the 
municipal court. municipalities. Foraker Act. 








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No colonial statute could 
abridge the above powers. 







APPENDIX I 




THE MUNICIPAL LAW 
AN ACT 

ESTABLISHING A SYSTEM OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND REORGANIZING 
MUNICIPAL SERVICES 

Be it enacted by the Legislature of Porto Rico: 

PRELIMINARY PROVISION 

Section i . That this Act shall be known as the “Municipal Law,” 
and shall be applicable to all municipalities at present existing, and 
to such municipalities as may be created hereafter in accordance with 
the provisions hereof. 


BOUNDARIES 

Section 2. That the boundaries of municipalities now existing 
shall be the same as at present established in accordance with the 
laws in force. 

Section 3 . That in case of disagreement between two or more 
municipalities over their respective boundaries the matter shall be 
submitted in the first instance to the Executive Council and be de¬ 
cided thereby, and the Executive Council shall establish proper rules 
of procedure for such cases. 

Section 4 . That any of the contending municipalities may ap¬ 
peal from the decision of the Executive Council to the Supreme Court 
of Porto Rico which shall establish rules to govern such appeals; 
Provided , That in said appeals the Supreme Court shall have power to 
consider and determine the findings of fact and conclusions of law of 
the Executive Council, and such other issues as may arise from the 
pleadings and evidence stated in the record. 


112 


APPENDIX I 


II3 


BODY POLITIC 

Section 5 . That the inhabitants of municipalities at present 
existing and of such municipalities as may be hdteafter created in 
accordance with this Act, are hereby and henceforth constituted into 
a body politic and juridic under the present name of each such muni¬ 
cipality and under such name as each newly created municipality 
may adopt, and as such body politic and juridic they shall have 
perpetual succession and power (a) to adopt and use an official seal; 
( b ) to sue and be sued; ( c ) to prosecute and defend actions at law, 
and to institute all sorts of judicial proceedings; ( d) to acquire prop¬ 
erty by exchange, donation or bequest, or by virtue of proceedings 
for the collection of taxes, or by eminent domain proceedings, or by 
any other means provided by law, and to possess, administer and 
govern such property; and ( e ) to alienate or encumber any of their 
property, subject to the provisions of this Act. In their aforesaid 
juridic capacity municipalities may perform such general functions as 
may be necessary for the proper exercise of their said powers as herein 
provided, and they may further exercise such powers as are expressly 
conferred upon them by this Act. 

NEW MUNICIPALITIES 

Section 6. That whenever the inhabitants of one or more politi¬ 
cal divisions or wards of one or more municipalities desire to con¬ 
stitute and organize a new municipality, the following procedure 
shall be observed: ( 1 ) Twenty-five per cent of the voters of each of 
said divisions or wards who shall have voted at the last general elec¬ 
tion, shall execute and subscribe a petition expressing their purpose, 
setting forth the name to be given the new municipality, and those of 
the several wards that will constitute the same, as well as the reasons 
and facts on which their petition is based and on which the new muni¬ 
cipality shall be constituted. Said petition shall be subscribed or 
signed, as the case may be, before any officer authorized to administer 
oaths under the law on affidavits in force at the time. ( 2 ) The petition 
so drafted and subscribed shall be submitted by the interested parties 
to the Legislature of Porto Rico at any regular session thereof within 
the ten days following the opening of such session. ( 3 ) If in the opin- 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


114 

ion of the Legislature the petition submitted thereto in the form and 
condition aforesaid shows prima facie sufficient reasons for the con¬ 
stitution of the new municipality, the Legislature shall decide the 
petition as it may deem advisable after an investigation of the case 
and hearing all interested parties and such persons as may request to 
be heard. ( 4 ) Should the municipality be created, the governing 
bodies and officers thereof shall be appointed in such manner as the 
Legislature may provide. 

ANNEXATION OF WARDS OF ONE MUNICIPALITY TO ANOTHER 

Section 7. That whenever the inhabitants of one or more wards 
or political divisions of any municipality desire annexation to an¬ 
other municipality, the rules of procedure established in the pre¬ 
ceding section shall be observed so far as they may be applicable; 
Provided, That the place known as “Cedro” of “Tallaboa Poniente,” 
ward of Penuelas, is hereby segregated from the said municipality 
and annexed to the municipality of Guayanilla pursuant to the record 
in such case transmitted to the Legislature by the Governor of Porto 
Rico on the first day of May, 1919 . The delineation and boundaries 
of the said new ward which shall be known as “Cedro” shall, for the 
purposes of the aforesaid segregation, be the following: 

Beginning at the extreme northwest point of the Playa ward, on 
the brook called Quebrada Grande, and following in a direction east 
to the south of the properties of Concepcidn Torres, Cristino Gales 
and Carlos Mead, until arriving at a point southeast of the property 
of the said Mead and thence in a direction north passing to the east 
of the properties of Carlos Mead, Luis Rodriguez, Succession of 
Ricardo Rodriguez and Jesus Stella, until arriving at the point north¬ 
east of the property of Jesfis Stella and thence in a direction west 
passing to the north of the properties of Jestis Stella, Eduardo Torres, 
Alejandro Franceschi, Herodias Pascual, and others, until arriving at 
the brook Grande, and thence in a direction south following the said 
brook until arriving at the starting point. 

PROVISIONS COMMON TO ALL MUNICIPALITIES 

Section 8. That all expenses incurred by the government of each 
municipality for salaries of its respective officers and employees, and 


APPENDIX I 


US 

for offices and departments, and all expenses and obligations incurred 
or contracted or to be incurred or contracted in or for works and 
improvements of the municipality, or for the development thereof, 
shall be paid by the respective municipalities, which shall have power 
to provide such funds as may be necessary therefor in accordance 
with the provisions of this Act. 

Section 9. 1 That municipalities shall have full legislative and 
administrative powers in all matters of a purely local nature and 
connected with public works, education, charity, public order and 
security, police, jails, asylums, hospitals, hygiene, the beautifying of 
the town ( ornato ), street alignment, opening of parks, building regu¬ 
lations, properties and municipal revenues, public roads, water sup¬ 
ply, public lighting, sewers, city transportation, cemeteries, markets, 
slaughter-houses, meatshops, and with all kinds of institutions, serv¬ 
ices and other activities for the benefit of the municipality in general, 
and for the development thereof; Provided , That such powers shall be 
exercised subject to such laws of Porto Rico and of the United States 
as may be in force, and that no ordinance or resolution shall be passed 
or action taken which in any way conflicts with any of said laws; 
And provided, further, That the health service in each municipality 
shall be in charge of an officer or inspector of health appointed by the 
Commissioner of Health of Porto Rico whose salary shall be fixed by 
law, and all expenses of such health service shall be defrayed by the 
Insular Government; Provided, further, That the Treasurer of Porto 
Rico shall withhold, and he is hereby directed to withhold, out of any 
funds in his possession belonging to the respective municipalities, a 
sum equal to six (6) per centum of the net receipts of each munici¬ 
pality, which sum shall be covered into the general funds of the 
Insular Treasury and be placed at the disposal of the Insular Depart¬ 
ment of Health, partly to defray such expenses as may be incurred by 
the health service, except the service of public cleaning which shall 
be done by the municipalities for their own account. 

Section io. 2 That the powers hereby conferred on municipalities 
shall be exercised by them subject to the following special limitations: 

( 1 ) All public works shall be done and all material shall be pur- 

1 Amended July 12, 1921. 

2 Amended May 12, 1920 and July 12, 1921. 


n6 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


chased on call for bids when the cost value thereof exceeds five hun¬ 
dred (500) dollars in municipalities of class one and two hundred 
(200) dollars in all other municipalities. When materials or supplies 
are manufactured by only one firm, they may be purchased directly 
without competition but the ordinance authorizing such purchase 
shall set forth the reasons therefor. In case of the purchase of sup¬ 
plies or materials which cannot be obtained in the Island of Porto 
Rico estimates shall be obtained from two or more reputable dealers 
and the purchase made from such estimates as upon bids. When 
public call for bids has been made for construction of work or for the 
furnishing of supplies or materials, and no bids are presented, then* 
the municipality may proceed to construct the work or to purchase 
such supplies or materials by administration, upon the best terms 
obtainable. When public calls for bids have been made for construc¬ 
tion of work or for the furnishing of supplies or materials, and the bids 
presented, in the opinion of the municipal council, are exorbitant, 
then the municipal council may reject all of said bids and proceed to 
construct the work or to purchase the supplies or materials by admin¬ 
istration, upon the best terms obtainable. The amount paid for such 
work or for such supplies shall in no case exceed the amount of the 
lowest bid; Provided, That in case of the preparation of plans, esti¬ 
mates and specifications for municipal public works, the municipality 
may freely contract the services of an engineer or architect, graduate 
of a school or university of recognized good standing, where the fees 
to be paid shall not exceed three and one-half (3^) per cent of the 
amount estimated for the construction of the work. 

(2) No municipal indebtedness shall be contracted at a higher rate 
of interest than seven (7) per cent per annum; Provided, however, That 
in case of five-year term loans, or less, and the public needs of the 
municipality shall so require it, municipalities may contract loans with 
a bank or banking house or with private individuals at a rate of in¬ 
terest exceeding seven (7) per cent per annum and not exceeding 
eight (8) per cent per annum. 

(3) No loan shall be authorized unless provision is made for the 
receipts necessary for the redemption of principal and interest, and 
said receipts shall constitute a special or trust fund which absolutely 
shall not be available for any other purpose whatever; nor shall any 


APPENDIX I 


117 

loan be authorized unless the ordinance or resolution authorizing the 
same, specifies the work to be carried out and the estimates for each 
and the funds appropriated for each such work shall not be trans¬ 
ferred to another work without the approval of the assembly, but 
surpluses in any such work may be so transferred; Provided, That 
expenses incurred for survey and preparation of estimates of said 
works shall be reimbursed to the regular funds of the municipalities 
out of funds of the loan. 

(4) The jurisdiction of municipalities is hereby circumscribed to 
their territorial limits. 

(5) That no municipal property shall be sold, leased, mortgaged, 
encumbered or otherwise disposed of, except at public sales, unless 
otherwise expressly authorized by this Act; nor shall any such prop¬ 
erty be exchanged except by resolution of two-thirds of the members 
of the municipal assembly. 

(6) No municipality shall contract indebtedness the amount of 
which at the time of the contracting thereof, including all outstanding 
indebtedness, shall exceed ten (10) per cent of the total value at which 
the taxable real and personal property in the municipality shall have 
been assessed at the last assessment made for the levying of insular 
taxes prior to the creation of the debt. 

(7) In no case shall the inspection expenses of any public work 
exceed fifteen (15) per cent of the total cost of said work. 

Section ii. That premiums on all bonds to be furnished by 
municipal officers and employees shall be paid out of municipal funds. 

Section 12. 1 That no person shall hold at the same time two or 
more municipal offices or positions, the salaries for which are separ¬ 
ately stated in the budget. No member of the Municipal Assembly 
or of the Council of Administration or employee of the municipality 
shall be interested directly or indirectly in contracts entered into with 
the municipality. 

Section 13. 2 That for the purposes of this Act municipalities are 
hereby classified in three categories, to wit: first class, to which shall 
belong all municipalities whose last assessment as revised by the 
Department of Finance up to December 31, 1919, shall reach or ex- 

1 Amended May 12, 1920. 

2 Amended July 12, 1921. 


n8 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


ceed eight million (8,000,000) dollars; second class, to which shall 
belong all municipalities whose assessment shall reach or exceed three 
million (3,000,000) dollars and shall not reach eight million (8,000,- 
000) dollars, and third class, to which shall belong all municipalities 
whose assessment shall not reach three million (3,000,000) dollars. 

This classification shall be modified every four years from and after 
January 15, 1924, when a new classification shall be made in accord¬ 
ance with the schedule hereinbefore described. 

Section 14. 1 That for the new classification referred to in the 
preceding Section the assessment made by the Department of Finance 
for the levying of property taxes shall govern as revised up to Decem¬ 
ber 31 of the year previous to that in which the new classification of 
municipalities shall be made. 

The Executive Council of Porto Rico shall declare, pursuant to 
law, when a municipality has passed from one class to another, and 
shall provide whatever may be necessary to carry out said change. 
This declaration shall be effective as to the organization of the muni¬ 
cipality from the first day of induction into office of the new officers 
elected by popular vote at the last election held, and as to the levying 
and collecting of property taxes from the first day of July of the same 
year in which said induction into office takes place. 

GOVERNMENT 

Section 15. That the government of each municipality is hereby 
vested in a Municipal Assembly and a Council of Administration. 

MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY 

Section 16. That at all general elections the voters of each mu¬ 
nicipality shall elect a Municipal Assembly which shall consist of 
thirteen (13) members in municipalities of the first class, nine (9) 
members in municipalities of the second class, and seven (7) members 
in municipalities of the third class. No voter shall have the right to 
vote for more than nine (9) delegates to the Municipal Assembly in 
municipalities of the first class, for seven (7) in municipalities of the 
second class and for five (5) in municipalities of the third class. 

1 Amended May 12 , 1920 and July 12, 1921. 


APPENDIX I 119 

No political party shall present a greater number of candidates 
than that for which each voter is entitled to vote. 

Candidates who shall have received the largest number of votes 
at the election shall be declared elected. Should there be a tie vote 
between two candidates, the candidate occupying the first place on 
the election ballot shall be declared elected. 

Delegates to the Municipal Assembly shall hold office for a term 
of four years and until their successors shall have been duly elected 
or appointed and shall have qualified. 

Delegates to the Municipal Assembly, prior to their induction into 
office, shall take an oath pursuant to the Political Code, which oath 
shall, be administered by the President or by a member of the out¬ 
going Assembly, a judge or a notary public. If by reason of physical 
disability or for any other justified cause a member of the Assembly 
is unable to attend at the inaugural session and take his oath, he 
shall be granted a term of fifteen days within which to do so, and in 
such case he may take the oath of office before the President of the 
Assembly; but failing to appear within the said term, the Assembly 
shall declare the office vacant and shall proceed to fill the vacancy 
pursuant to the provisions of this Act. 

Section 17. 1 That to be eligible as a member of the Municipal 
Assembly it shall be required: to be a citizen of the United States; 
over twenty-one years of age; a qualified voter of the municipality; 
to have resided in the municipality for a period of not less than one 
year; to know how to read and write; not to have served any sen¬ 
tence for a felony or for a crime involving moral turpitude, nor to 
have been removed from any public office for delinquency or immoral 
conduct. 

The Municipal Assembly shall hold its inaugural meeting on the 
second Monday of January following each general election and at 
such meeting shall elect a President and a Vice-President from among 
its members by secret ballot. It shall also elect a Secretary and a 
Municipal Auditor, and the members of the Council of Administra¬ 
tion with the exception of the Commissioner of Public Service, Police 
and Prisons, who shall be elected in the same manner as the members 
of the Municipal Assembly and who shall have the same qualifica- 
1 Amended May 12, 1920 and July 12, 1921. 


120 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


tions of eligibility as the latter, and shall adopt its regulations, in 
accordance with parliamentary principles. After said inaugural 
meeting, the Assembly shall hold regular meetings on the first Monday 
after the first Tuesday of the month of March of each year, which 
meetings shall not last longer than fifteen consecutive days in muni¬ 
cipalities of the first class, ten consecutive days in municipalities of 
the second class and five consecutive days in municipalities of the 
third class, excluding Sundays and legal holidays. Special sessions 
may be held on the request of a majority of the members of the 
Assembly or the Council of Administration, but no special session 
shall last longer than five consecutive working days in municipalities 
of the first class, three in municipalities of the second class, two in 
municipalities of the third class. 

Section 18. 1 The majority of the total number of the members 
of the Municipal Assembly shall constitute a quorum; and all sessions 
of the said Assembly shall be public and shall be held at the town hall 
of the municipality. 

Section 19. That should it be impossible to hold any session of 
the Assembly for lack of quorum , the members present may compel 
the absentees to appear by a written order to any marshal or bailiff 
of any insular or municipal court for the arrest and conduction of 
such absentees to the session hall, save in case of physical disability 
satisfactorily proven. If notwithstanding the arrest such member 
insists on absenting himself, his office shall be declared vacant and 
he shall be disqualified to hold any public office whatever in Porto 
Rico for a period of four years. 

Section 20. That if any member of the Assembly is absent from 
the municipality during a term of its session, without justified cause, 
the remaining members thereof may declare his office vacant by 
resolution to that effect. 

Section 21. That members of the Municipal Assembly may re¬ 
sign their offices by tendering their resignations to the Assembly, 
which shall have power to decide thereon. 

Section 22. 1 That vacancies in the Municipal Assembly shall be 
filled by the Assembly with persons having the qualifications of eligi- 
bles and who are of the same political affiliation as the member caus- 
1 Amended May 12 , 1920. 


APPENDIX I 


121 


ing the vacancy, on recommendation of the local directing organiza¬ 
tion of the party which elected the member whose vacancy is to be 
filled. 

Whenever by reason of a tie vote, or because there are several 
vacant positions in the Municipal Assembly and it has not a quorum , 
such vacant positions can not be filled by the Assembly, then the 
Governor of Porto Rico shall, with the approval of the Insular Senate, 
make the necessary appointments, such appointments to be made of 
persons having the qualifications of eligibles who are of the same 
political affiliation as that of the member or members causing such 
vacancies, and on recommendation of the local directing organiza¬ 
tion of the party who elected the member or members whose vacan¬ 
cies are to be filled. 

Section 23. That all limitations imposed by the Organic Act of 
Porto Rico on the Legislature and its members shall be applicable, 
as far as possible, to the Municipal Assembly and the members thereof. 

Section 24. That members of the Municipal Assembly shall re¬ 
ceive and shall be paid as sole compensation for their services, a per 
diem of $5 for each day of session which they actually attend in first- 
class municipalities, and of $3 in the others. 

Section 25. That the Municipal Assembly shall keep a record of 
its proceedings, resolutions and acts, and of such ordinances as it may 
approve, in minutes to be kept in bound and folioed books made 
available by a certificate of the President and the Secretary on the 
first available page of each book, stating the number of blank pages 
contained in each of said books. Such books shall be kept by the 
Secretary of the Assembly and shall constitute records of the same 
character and nature as the minutes of the House of Representatives 
of Porto Rico. 

Section 26. 1 That the Municipal Assembly shall have sole 
authority — 

1. To adopt the budget of receipts and expenditures; 

2. To sell, exchange, encumber or lease municipal real property, 
and to construct theaters and public buildings; Provided , That the 
Council of Administration may authorize the letting of municipal 
theaters for a term not greater than sixty days; 

1 Amended May 12, 1920 and July 12, 1921. 



122 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


3. To authorize loans; 

4. To levy taxes and excise taxes of any kind; Provided , That ordi¬ 
nances levying such taxes and excise taxes shall be adopted by two- 
thirds of the members of the Municipal Assembly, but where this may 
not be possible, either because some of the offices are vacant, or be¬ 
cause some of its members fail to attend the meetings or for any other 
circumstance, said ordinances may be adopted by a majority of its 
members. These ordinances whether adopted by two-thirds of the 
members of the Assembly or by a majority thereof, shall require the 
approval of the Executive Council of Porto Rico; Provided , That in 
all cases where, pursuant to this Act, the approval of two-thirds of the 
members of the Municipal Assembly shall be required, and it is not 
possible to secure the same for the same reasons as are set forth in this 
paragraph, such ordinances may be adopted by a majority vote of the 
members of the Assembly with the approval of the Executive Council 
of Porto Rico; 

5. To appoint and remove for just cause any member of the Coun¬ 
cil of Administration after having heard the party and having given 
him an opportunity to defend himself, except the Commissioner of 
Public Service, Police and Prisons who may be impeached and re¬ 
moved from office for just cause on a vote of two-thirds of the mem¬ 
bers of the Municipal Assembly, through public impeachment, and 
the Commissioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons shall have the 
right of appeal to the proper district court from such action as the 
Assembly may take in the premises; 

6. To appoint and remove, for just cause, after hearing the party 
and giving him an opportunity to defend himself, the Municipal 
Secretary, who shall also be the Secretary of the Municipal Assembly 
and of the Council of Administration, and who shall have charge of 
the municipal archive and perform such other functions and duties as 
may be assigned to him by the Municipal Assembly and the Council 
of Administration; 

7. To appoint and remove, for just cause, after having heard the 
party and having given him an opportunity to defend himself, a 
Municipal Auditor who shall act and have all the powers, functions 
and duties with regard to the municipality as appertain to the Audi¬ 
tor of Porto Rico with regard to the Insular Government, subject to 


APPENDIX I 


123 


the provisions of the Organic Act, and to such regulations as the said 
Auditor of Porto Rico may prescribe, and shall sign warrants and 
orders for payment out of municipal funds. The office of Municipal 
Auditor'and Secretary shall be merged in the same person in muni¬ 
cipalities of the third class, and such consolidation of offices may be 
made in municipalities of the second class, in the discretion of the 
Municipal Assembly; Provided, That the Municipal Auditor, or the 
Secretary and Auditor in municipalities where the said offices are 
consolidated, shall see that all the real and personal property belong¬ 
ing to the municipality is protected and kept from any deterioration 
or damage, and it shall be his duty to exact responsibility from any 
municipal officer or employee under whose custody and care such 
property is found, either during the time he is holding his office or 
when ceasing therein, for any damage which through bad faith, neg¬ 
ligence or abandonment shall have been caused thereto, reporting 
the occurrence to the Auditor of Porto Rico immediately. He shall 
also report to the Municipal Assembly which shall retain the bond 
furnished by the said officer or employee to answer for the proper 
discharge of his office, until an investigation of the case, pursuant to 
law, shall have been made by the office of the Auditor of Porto Rico; 
and if there be any liability of the said officer or employee, then 
judicial proceedings shall be taken to repair such damages as shall 
have been caused, without prejudice to exacting from the culprit such 
criminal liability as he may have incurred; 

8. To fill such vacancies as may occur among its members as well 
as among the members of the Council of Administration; Provided, 
That the latter shall fill such vacancies as may occur among the 
members when the Assembly is not in session and that appointments 
so made shall be effective until the Municipal Assembly shall confirm 
the same or make new appointments; 

9. To fix in the budget the salaries of all municipal officers and 
employees, with the exception of salaries of temporary employees 
appointed by the Council of Administration, which may be fixed by 
the Council of Administration in the course of the fiscal year; 

10. The creation and regulation of municipal or school bands; 
Provided , That the expenses originating from the latter may be paid 


124 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


out of funds appropriated in the budget for public education, and 
shall comprise the twelve months of the fiscal year. 

Section 27. That all resolutions of the Assembly or of the Coun¬ 
cil of Administration not relative to appointments shall be stated in 
ordinances or resolutions thereof, passed and approved for the pur¬ 
pose. The enacting clause of the former shall be “Be it ordained by 
the Municipal Assembly or by the Council of Administration, as the 
case may be, of (here give name of municipality),” and of the latter 
“Be it resolved by the Municipal Assembly or by the Council of 
Administration, as the case may be, of (here give name of muni¬ 
cipality).” 


COUNCIL OF ADMINISTRATION 

Section 28. 1 The members of the Council of Administration, the 
Auditor and Municipal Secretary shall be appointed for four years 
and shall perform the duties of their offices until their successors are 
duly appointed and have qualified. The office of member of the 
Council of Administration shall be incompatible with that of Dele¬ 
gate to the Municipal Assembly and with any other insular or muni¬ 
cipal office for which remuneration is paid. 

Section 29* That the Council of Administration shall be com¬ 
posed of — 

1. A Municipal Commissioner of Public Service, Police and 
Prisons; 

2. A Municipal Commissioner of Charities; 

3. A Municipal Commissioner of Finance; 

4. A Municipal Commissioner of Public Works; 

5. A Municipal Commissioner of Public Education. 

Provided, That no other administrative department, not provided 
for in this Section, shall be created by the Municipal Assembly; but 
in municipalities of the second and third class the Municipal Assem¬ 
bly may consolidate departments, though in no case shall the de¬ 
partments in any municipality be less than three. 

The Commissioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons shall be 

1 Amended July 12, 1921. 

2 Amended May 12 , 1920 and July 12, 1921. 


APPENDIX I 


125 


the executive chief of the municipality and President of the Council 
of Administration; he shall represent the municipality in its cor¬ 
porate capacity; shall inspect and supervise all municipal offices and 
services; shall have power to prefer charges before the Municipal 
Assembly against any officer appointed thereby, and said Municipal 
Assembly shall decide whether or not removal of such officer is proper. 

Section 30. That the Municipal Commissioner of Finance shall 
be the Municipal Treasurer and shall exercise the functions and dis¬ 
charge the duties of present municipal treasurers. In municipalities 
of the second and third class the Commissioner of Finance may be, 
if so provided by the Municipal Assembly, the Collector of Internal 
Revenues of the municipality. 

Section 31. 1 The Municipal Commissioner of Charities shall 
have charge of the charity service within the respective municipality 
and shall also Rave under him the Civil Registry subject to the laws 
regulating the same. 

Section 32. That the Municipal Commissioner of Education 
shall exercise all the functions and powers, and within the respective 
municipality shall discharge all the duties of the school boards which 
are hereby abolished. 

Section 32 A. That the Commissioner of Public Works shall 
direct and manage all works of a municipal character, and shall have 
charge of all municipal buildings, properties and lands, and shall fulfill 
all the requirements and perform all the duties and obligations im¬ 
posed upon him by municipal ordinances, the laws of the Island and 
the Organic Act. 

Section 33. 2 That in all municipalities the Commissioner of 
Charities shall be a physician lawfully admitted to the practice of his 
profession in Porto Rico; Provided , That in municipalities of the 
third class where it is not possible to secure a physician to discharge 
said office another person may be appointed who shall have all the 
qualifications required by this Act of a member of the Council of 
Administration, in which case such Commissioner shall perform his 
functions as such until the municipality shall fill such office by the 
appointment of a physician. 

1 Amended July 12, 1921. 

2 Amended May 12, 1920 and July 12, 1921. 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


126 , 

In first-class municipalities the Municipal Commissioner of Public 
works shall be a civil engineer or architect. 

In all municipalities the Municipal Commissioner of Education 
shall be a person who is or has been a public school teacher or who has 
a title, diploma or certificate of public school teacher, or a high school 
or university professor or a person holding a professional degree or a 
high school diploma or a degree of Bachelor of Arts, or an eighth grade 
diploma, or who has been a school supervisor, Municipal Commis¬ 
sioner of Education or a member of the Insular Legislature. 

In all municipalities the Municipal Commissioner of Finance shall 
be a person who has performed the functions of a Collector of Internal 
Revenue, of a Municipal Treasurer or Comptroller, of an Examiner 
of Accounts of the office of the Auditor or Treasurer of Porto Rico, or 
a person competent in accounting. 

Section 34. That the same qualifications shall ‘be required of 
members of the Council of Administration as of members of the Mu¬ 
nicipal Assembly, except as regards residence and electoral qualifi¬ 
cations. 

Section 35. 1 That the members of the Council of Administration, 
the Auditor, Secretary, and other permanent officers and employees 
of the municipality shall receive and shall be paid as their only com¬ 
pensation such salaries as the Municipal Assembly shall fix in each 
budget, which salaries shall not be increased or decreased during the 
fiscal year. 

Section 36.2 That the Council of Administration shall exercise, 
when the Municipal Assembly is not in session, all such legislative 
and administrative powers as are conferred on the municipality under 
Section 9 of this Act, except such as pertain exclusively to the Muni¬ 
cipal Assembly and which are enumerated in Section 26 of this Act. 
The meetings of the Council of Administration shall be public. 

Section 37. That the Council of Administration shall hold meet¬ 
ings on such days and at such hours as a majority of the members 
thereof may by regulation determine. It shall hold at least two 
meetings a month. No members of the Council of Administration 

1 Amended July 12, 1921. 

2 Amended May 12, 1920. 


y~ 


APPENDIX I 127 

shall receive salary for days on which he does not render his services, 
without justified cause. 

Section 38. That resignations of members of the Council of Ad¬ 
ministration shall be tendered to the Municipal Assembly if in ses¬ 
sion, and if not, they shall be tendered to, passed upon and filled 
temporarily, by the Council of Administration itself, which shall re¬ 
port the matter to the Municipal Assembly at its next meeting for 
such action as it may deem advisable. The same procedure shall be 
followed in case of vacancy in any office to be filled by designation by 
the Municipal Assembly. 

Section 39. That the regulations of the Council of Administra¬ 
tion shall determine the manner of substituting members in case of 
disability to discharge the office or in the case of justified absence. 

Section 40. 1 That all members of the Council of Administration 
and the Municipal Auditor shall furnish bond conditioned upon the 
faithful discharge of their duties and in such amount as the Municipal 
Assembly shall determine. Said bonds shall be approved as to the 
sufficiency of surety by the Auditor of Porto Rico, and as to the legal 
form thereof, by the Attorney General. 

The bond of the Commissioner of Finance and of the Auditor shall 
not be for an amount less than ten (10) per cent of the total municipal 
receipts for the preceding fiscal year, and shall be increased from time 
to time as may be necessary. The bonds of the other Commissioners 
shall be of not less than three thousand (3,000) dollars in first-class 
municipalities, two thousand (2,000) dollars in second-class muni¬ 
cipalities, and one thousand (1,000) dollars in third-class municipali¬ 
ties; Provided, That said bonds shall be filed with the Department of 
Finance of Porto Rico. 

Section 41. That all restrictions imposed on the heads of execu¬ 
tive departments of the Insular Government shall be applicable, so 
far as possible, to members of the Council of Administration. 

Section 42. 2 That each member of the Council of Administration 
shall have under his direction and control such offices and services as 
pertain to his office. He shall execute all ordinances and resolutions 
relating to matters comprised in the denomination of his office; shall 

1 Amended May 12, 1920 and July 12, 1921. 

2 Amended July 12, 1921. 


128 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


certify payments to be made by his department within budgetary 
appropriations; shall appoint the employees of his office, with the 
consent and approval of the council and with like approval and for 
just cause may remove them after having heard the interested party, 
in writing, and on August first of each year shall render an annual 
report to the Municipal Assembly on matters connected with his 
department. He shall prepare bills for ordinances relating to his de¬ 
partment, and shall submit the same to the Council of Administra¬ 
tion; shall furnish to the Council, to the Assembly and the Commis¬ 
sioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons such data and information 
as they may require in connection with his office; shall discharge all 
such additional duties as the Council may prescribe; shall comply 
with such rules as the Commissioner of Public Service, Police and 
Prisons may issue relating to the performance of his duties and obliga¬ 
tions, and shall be responsible for the direction and operation of his 
department, and civilly, for any prejudice he may cause to private 
individuals by any of his acts and omissions, through malice or negli¬ 
gence or inexcusable ignorance. Ordinances relative to sanitary 
matters shall be approved by the Insular Commissioner of Health. 

Section 43. 1 That when the Council of Administration of any 
municipality has to call for bids for the sale or lease of any property, 
purchase of articles or materials or for any service other than the hire 
of professional services or of public works, the proceedings therefor 
shall be as follows: The Council of Administration, through an ordi¬ 
nance duly adopted, shall state the exact nature of the operation, 
specifying in detail any or all requirements relative thereto to be ful¬ 
filled and shall authorize such call for bids. 

The ordinance shall fix the hour and place for receiving the bids, 
the exact hour for closing the call therefor and the time of opening the 
same, and a commission shall be designated therein, composed of the 
Commissioner of Public Service, Police and Prisons, another member 
of the Council of Administration and the Municipal Secretary, who 
shall constitute a Board of Award for publicly opening the bids, pass 
upon the same and make the award to the best bidder. 

Upon approval of the ordinance, a copy thereof shall be posted, by 
way of notice, in at least five conspicuous places of the municipality; 

1 Amended May 12 , 1920. 


APPENDIX I 


129 


and it shall also be published in a newspaper of general circulation for 
at least two days during the ten days immediately preceding the date 
fixed for the closing of the bids. 

On the date fixed for the opening of the bids the Board of Award 
shall meet at the place designated in the ordinance and shall proceed 
at once to open the bids and award the contract to the best bidder. 
In case that two or more persons have submitted bids equally advan¬ 
tageous, verbal bids may be received during the half hour following 
the opening of bids. Only such persons as have submitted the most 
advantageous bids shall take part in the verbal bidding. 

The Board of Award shall have a right to reject any or all bids, in 
which case the Council of Administration may issue a call for new 
bids, or take such action in the matter as seems best to the interests 
of the municipality without further competition. 

Whenever a call for bids has been issued and no bids are received, 
the Council of Administration may dispose of the matter in the form 
most convenient to the municipality. 

MUNICIPAL FINANCE 

Section 44. 1 That the draft of the budget shall be framed by the 
Council of Administration not later than the 15th day of February 
of each year. The appropriations appertaining to each branch of the 
municipal administration shall be stated separately in said budget; 
Provided, That the total budget for expenses of public education in¬ 
cluding the salary of the Commissioner and his office personnel, shall 
not be less than twenty-five (25) per cent of the total property tax 
received by the municipality plus the proceeds from the “School 
Tax,” if any; And provided, further, That the Municipal Auditor 
shall not issue any warrant on account of the budget for public 
education unless the disbursement has been previously approved by 
the Commissioner of Education of Porto Rico, as provided by the 
Organic Act. 

Section 45. 1 Within the three days following that in which the 
budget was framed by the Council of Administration, said budget 
shall be posted on the outside of the municipal building, the office of 
the Collector of Internal Revenue, the Police Barracks, and the Peace 
1 Amended May 12, 1920. 


130 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


or Municipal Court, for a term of ten consecutive days, with the state¬ 
ment at the end of the budget that any resident of the municipality 
desiring to oppose or make objections thereto as to any of its items,, 
shall do so by addressing the President of the Municipal Assembly in 
writing before the day on which said Municipal Assembly is to meet, 
which day shall be clearly stated. 

Section 46. 1 That the Council of Administration shall submit the 
draft of the budget to the Municipal Assembly at its regular annual 
session in the month of March, on the first day of its organization. 

The Municipal Assembly shall take into consideration the draft of 
the budget submitted by the Council of Administration, as well as 
any opposition or objections made by any resident of the munici¬ 
pality in the manner hereinbefore set forth, making such final 
decision as it may deem most proper. 

Should the Municipal Assembly fail to approve the budget prior 
to July 1 of each year, the budget for the proceeding fiscal year shall 
remain in force. 

Section 47.2 That no transfer of funds shall be made from items 
of the regular or supplementary budgets, nor shall new items be 
created in said budgets by means of transfers of funds, except by 
resolution of the Municipal Assembly. When said Assembly is not in 
session, said transfers may be approved by the Council of Adminis¬ 
tration with the approval of the Executive Council of Porto Rico. 
Transfers of items of appropriations under a loan shall not be made 
except by resolution of the Municipal Assembly, with the approval 
of the Executive Council of Porto Rico. 

Section 48.2 That surpluses in regular funds, in cash, resulting 
on the 30th day of June of each year, after closing the budget and 
after all the indebtedness chargeable thereto are covered, may be ex¬ 
pended in works or services of public utility, by framing supplemen¬ 
tary budgets to be voted and approved by the Municipal Assembly, 
following the rules established for regular budgets. 

Section 49.2 That the municipal revenues shall consist of — 

(a) The revenues and proceeds from municipal property; 

( b ) The proceeds of any tax on real and personal property in the 

1 Amended May 12, 1920. 

2 Amended May 12, 1920 and July 12, 1921. 


APPENDIX I 


131 

municipal district levied under proper authorization of the Legisla¬ 
tive Assembly; Provided, That such property is not exempt from 
taxation by the laws of the United States or by any law enacted by 
the Legislative Assembly. 

(c) Any surcharge of the tax on taxable property of the municipal¬ 
ity, provided, it shall be so decided by two-thirds of the Municipal 
Assembly; or, where this is not possible, either because some offices 
are vacant, or because some of its members fail to attend the meet¬ 
ings, or for any other reasons, said ordinances may be adopted by a 
majority of its members. These ordinances, whether adopted by 
two-thirds of the members of the Municipal Assembly or by a 
majority thereof, shall require the approval of the Executive Coun¬ 
cil of Porto Rico. The aforesaid surcharge shall not exceed one 
(1) per cent, computing therein any additional tax at present or 
hereafter authorized; Provided, That the said ordinance* shall be 
posted to the public for a term of not less than twenty days, and 
published twice in one week in a paper of large circulation before 
they are submitted to the Executive Council. 

Said surcharge shall be devoted solely to the redemption of loans 
heretofore or hereafter contracted; to the development of elementary 
education; to the construction of municipal or inter-municipal roads, 
aqueducts, electric plants, sewerage systems, hospitals or their main¬ 
tenance, cemeteries, asylums for the aged and orphans, tuberculosis 
sanatoriums, asylums for the insane and reform schools, market 
places, docks and bulkheads, schoolhouses and houses for teachers, 
agricultural farms; houses for sale on long terms to workmen, dikes 
to prevent inundations, public laundries and buildings for municipal 
offices; paving, asphalting and planting of trees on streets, and erec¬ 
tion of villages. Said property surtax shall be collected by the Treas¬ 
urer of Porto Rico-, a certified copy of the ordinance adopted by the 
Municipal Assembly to serve as authorization for the purpose. This 
surtax shall be levied on the basis of the assessment made by the 
Department of Finance, for collection solely during the following 
fiscal year, except in cases of loans, when it shall be in force for the 
time necessary until payment of the principal and interest shall have 
been covered. In all cases, the surcharge shall not be collected in the 
same fiscal year in which it was levied by the Municipal Assembly; 


132 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Provided, That the municipal ordinance levying any additional taxes, 
including the tax known as “School Tax,” on the assessment of prop¬ 
erty shall be received by the Treasurer of Porto Rico on or before the 
fifteenth day of March; Provided, That from and after the fiscal year 
1921-1922^: any municipality fails to levy in any fiscal year, for the 
payment of loans with interest contracted by said municipality in 
accordance with law, any special tax authorized by any act of the 
Legislature, said special tax shall be understood to be levied, and it 
is hereby directed that the same shall be considered as levied to be 
effective in said fiscal year at the same rate as governed in the pre¬ 
ceding year, without need of further legislation by the municipality 
concerned; and the Treasurer of Porto Rico shall collect such special 
tax in the usual manner; And provided, further, That from and after 
the fiscal year 1921-1922 if any municipality fails for any reason to 
enact the proper ordinance for the levying in any fiscal year of the tax 
known as “School Tax,” said tax shall be understood to be levied, and 
it is hereby directed that the same be considered as levied to be effec¬ 
tive in said fiscal year, at the same rate as governed in the preceding 
year, and the Treasurer of Porto Rico shall collect such special tax in 
the usual manner. 

id) License taxes provided by Act No. 26 of March 28, 1914, en¬ 
titled ‘ An Act authorizing the municipalities of the Island of Porto 
Rico to levy and collect annual license taxes to be used in meeting 
their budgetary expenses, and for other purposes,’ which is hereby 
declared to be in force; 

(e) Fines and costs imposed by peace courts and all fines which 
may be levied and collected by other courts of the Island for viola¬ 
tions of municipal ordinances; 

(f) Any other impost, excise or tax that may be levied by the 
Municipal Assembly in the manner provided for in Section 26, para¬ 
graph 4 of this Act, provided the object or matter of taxation is not 
also the object or matter of any Federal or Insular tax; 

ig) Interest on funds on deposit; 

Provided, That municipalities may reimburse totally or partially 
any funds unduly or unlawfully covered into the Municipal Treasury, 
whatever the source of such funds may be, by resolution to that effect 


APPENDIX I 


133 

adopted by the Municipal Assembly, or by the Council of Adminis¬ 
tration, when the former is not in session. 

Section 50. 1 That the municipalities shall not appropriate in 
their budgets any sum for the payment of salaries without having 
first made, in their order, the necessary appropriations for the follow¬ 
ing obligations: 

(a) Indebtedness on account of principal and interest due or to 
become due within the fiscal year for which the budget is framed, for 
which no special funds are provided through a special tax for the 
redemption thereof; 

(b) Any deficit resulting from the operations of preceding years, 
or expenses to which the municipality is legally bound by contracts 
either entered into or for other causes, and all payments or reimburse¬ 
ments by reason of final judgments rendered against the municipality 
by any court of competent jurisdiction; 

( c ) Public charity; 

(d) Public education; 

( e ) Public works; 

(/) Fire, police and jail services; 

( g ) Maintenance of municipal works and buildings; 

( h) Per diems of members of the Municipal Assembly. 

Section 51. 2 That in no case shall the amount appropriated for 
payment of salaries of personnel, excluding salaries of teachers of 
public education, exceed fifty (50) per cent of the total of the general 
budget of expenses. 

Section 52. That municipal accounting shall be governed by 
regulations to be established by the Auditor of Porto Rico with the 
approval of the Governor, until which time the present regulations 
shall continue in force. 


ROADS 

Section 53. That no new road shall be opened nor any existing 
road abandoned until after a public hearing shall have been held, at 
which persons interested shall have had an opportunity of being 
heard. Said hearing shall be held by at least two members of the 
1 Amended May 12, 1920 and July 12, 1921. 2 Amended May 12, 1920. 


134 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Council of Administration, appointed by said Council for the purpose. 
Notice of such hearings shall be posted to the public at least ten days 
in advance of the date set therefor. A copy of such notice shall be 
posted in the town hall, three in the vicinity of the road in question, 
and one copy shall be forwarded to the Commissioner of the Interior. 
The hearing shall be held in the vicinity of the road or in the town hall. 
In case of objections by any person who deems himself prejudiced the 
Council of Administration shall decide the matter, and the person 
objecting may within thirty days from the date of the decision of the 
Council interpose the proper complaint before a competent court 
having jurisdiction in the matter, the decision of the Council to be 
stayed until judicial decision shall have been rendered. 

Immediate notice shall be served on the Commissioner of the In¬ 
terior of any new road to be opened or of any old road to be closed, 
for registration of such road in the register of his office. 

GRANTS OF LOTS AND LANDS 

Section 54. 1 That on petition the Municipal Assembly may 
grant lots in perpetuity for the construction of houses thereon, under 
such conditions as the Assembly may determine by ordinance ap¬ 
proved for the purpose; and where a lot has been granted as afore¬ 
said, the owner of the house constructed thereon shall have the use of 
said lot during such time as he maintains on said lot a building in good 
condition, in accordance with regulations prescribed by said ordi¬ 
nance. 

The Municipal Assembly shall specify in such concessions as they 
may make, the respective rights of the grantor and grantee, or their 
successors, as to the ownership of the buildings, the reconstruction 
thereof in cases where they are destroyed or deteriorated and every¬ 
thing not in conflict with the provisions of this Act. 

The concession shall necessarily be made by an ordinance or reso¬ 
lution adopted by the majority of the total number of members of the 
Assembly; Provided, That no petition shall be taken into considera¬ 
tion if the petitioner does not attach thereto the plans and estimates 
for the building to be constructed on the lot applied for, so that the 
Assembly may be cognizant of the work in granting the concession. 

1 Amended May 12, 1920. 


APPENDIX I 


x 35 


Failure on the part of the grantee to comply with the conditions 
imposed by the resolution of the Municipal Assembly, relative to each 
concession, shall be considered as sufficient for the revocation of said 
concession by the municipality, if the grantee, on request of the 
interested Municipal Assembly, does not proceed to remedy the 
omission or infraction within such reasonable time as he may be 
granted by it for the purpose. 

When the Municipal Assembly believes that it must consider the 
question of the forfeiture of one of these concessions, the grantee shall 
be summoned, at least one month, in advance, so that he may appear 
before the Assembly in defense of his rights, at a meeting to be held 
for the purpose. Upon hearing the interested party, the Assembly 
shall decide pursuant to law and in accordance with the facts of the 
evidence; and the resolution adopted shall be final, provided the 
grantee does not appear within the period of thirty days after he has 
been notified of the decision, filing the proper action before the Dis¬ 
trict Court of the district to which the municipality belongs; and 
after the case has again been heard in said court, its decision shall be 
final. 

Among the terms of the concession made in each case, that of pay¬ 
ment of an annual rental to the municipality making the concession 
may be prescribed, which rental shall at least be equal to the amount 
of the property tax which would appertain to said property, if such 
property is subject to the payment of such tax, and in the aforesaid 
concession there shall also be stipulated that any building on the 
property leased shall be subject to the payment of taxes. 

Every grantee of a lot built upon under a previous concession, de¬ 
siring to obtain the final ownership of such lot to him granted may 
acquire the same without the need of public auction, and the Munici¬ 
pal Assembly may so determine by an ordinance providing for the 
fixing of the rate at which the said lots shall be sold in each urban 
zone. 

Nothing herein contained shall be construed to include grants of 
lands which have been donated to municipalities under conditions 
specifically providing the use to be made thereof, in which cases the 
conditions imposed by the donor as well as any conditions imposed by 
the municipality shall be strictly complied with; Provided, however. 


I3 6 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


That the concession of the use of lands situated in the urban zone of a 
municipality, which shall have been previously donated or which may 
hereafter be donated to a municipality, without prescribing any spec¬ 
ific condition relative to the donation, shall hereafter be governed by 
the provisions of the law in force at the time of the grant. 

The sale, mortgage, lease, or any other manner of disposing of real 
property belonging to municipalities, except the concessions of lots to 
which this section refers, shall be made according to the provisions of 
Section io, paragraph 5 of this Act, in so far as they may be applica¬ 
ble. Provided , That what is prescribed in said Section 10 shall not be 
applicable to the sales or leases of niches or of parcels of land to be 
used for the burial of corpses, and municipalities are hereby authorized 
to make such leases or sales directly to the petitioner, under such 
terms and conditions as said municipalities shall have established by 
ordinance. 

The Municipal Assembly may delegate to the Council of Adminis¬ 
tration any of the powers with which it is expressly vested under this 
section, when in its discretion circumstances so require. 

Section 55. That in the case of building lots ceded by the munici¬ 
palities in usufruct for an indeterminate time, the sale to the user may 
be made without the necessity of a public sale, provided such sale 
shall be approved by two-thirds of the members of the Council of 
Administration. 

Section 56. That when the Insular Government possesses public 
lands in any municipality, the Commissioner of the Interior shall have 
power to convey to sqch municipality, by deed executed by him to 
that end and in the name of The People of Porto Rico, such extension 
of said lands as the Municipal Assembly may deem necessary and as 
the Governor may approve, but the land so transferred to said munic¬ 
ipality shall be devoted by it solely to the establishment and mainte¬ 
nance of villages; but out of such lands the municipality may reserve 
and utilize for school purposes or parks or places of recreation for 
children, such parcels as may be necessary and convenient. 

Section 57. 1 That when a municipality shall have established 
the building line of a street in the urban zone thereof, or a road line 
in the rural zone, and private property contiguous to said street or 
1 Amended, May 12, 1920. 


APPENDIX I 


137 


road is separated from said building line by lands belonging to the 
municipality, then the municipality may grant the land thereunto 
belonging, situated between, such private property and the street or 
road, to the owners of the property immediately contiguous thereto, 
by ordinance and without competition or public auction; Provided , 
however, That no land shall be disposed of as above stated for a price 
lower than the value per square meter given under the official assess¬ 
ment to the property located back of the building line. 

ORDINANCES 

Section 58. 1 That municipal ordinances containing penal provi¬ 
sions shall be published in one or more newspapers of the Island, and 
shall be printed and sold at cost price in the office of the Municipal 
Secretary. At the end of each fiscal year they shall be bound in one 
volume. 

Section 59. That no ordinance containing penal provisions shall 
take effect until twenty days after its publication in the manner 
hereinbefore stated. 

Section 60. That subject to the provisions of the two preceding 
sections, ordinances and resolutions shall take effect ten days after 
their approval, except where extraordinary cases require the imme¬ 
diate taking effect thereof, in which cases, if so declared in the text, 
they shall take effect from and after the date of their approval if 
approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the total member¬ 
ship of the Municipal Assembly. 

Section 60 A. A copy of every approved ordinance of a sanitary 
character shall be transmitted to the Insular Commissioner of Health. 

Section 61. That no action, ordinance or resolution of any kind 
shall be adopted by the Council of Administration on the same day 
of its introduction, unless by unanimous consent, and no appropria¬ 
tion of funds for any purpose whatever shall be made except by ordi¬ 
nance or resolution of the Municipal Assembly specifying the items 
and the department or branch of the service for which such appropria¬ 
tion is made. Any ordinance authorizing the sale, exchange, mort¬ 
gage or lease of any property belonging to the municipality or under 
its control, must be adopted by at least two-thirds of the votes of the 
1 Amended May 12, 1920. 


i3« 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


entire membership of the Municipal Assembly; Provided , That noth¬ 
ing contained in this section shall be construed so as to prevent a 
Municipal Assembly, by vote of two-thirds of all its members, from 
assigning any municipal property to The People of Porto Rico or to 
the United States, for public purposes, and such transfers as have 
been made up to the present time for such purposes, are hereby 
declared to be valid and binding. 

BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS 

Section 62. 1 That the Bureau of Municipal Affairs of the Finance 
Department shall have the duty of preparing all data and reports 
relative to municipal affairs that may be required by the municipali¬ 
ties of the Island for compliance with their legal obligations, and shall 
render, as far as possible, such aid as may be required by any munic¬ 
ipality, in any administrative matter of a local or general nature. 

The Treasurer of Porto Rico may require municipalities to furnish 
necessary information for the purpose of placing the Bureau of Munic¬ 
ipal Affairs in a position to render any report on municipal matters 
that may be required of him by the Governor, the Legislative Assem¬ 
bly, or any of the executive departments of the Insular Government. 

Any consultation which municipal officers desire to submit to the 
Attorney General on the interpretation of legal provisions in force, 
may be transmitted through the Bureau of Municipal Affairs. 

INVESTIGATIONS 

Section 63. That the Auditor of Porto Rico shall examine and 
investigate municipal accounts and the condition of the administra¬ 
tion whenever he deems such action advisable, and shall render a 
written annual report which he shall transmit to the Legislature to¬ 
gether with his recommendations, transmitting a copy thereof to the 
municipal assemblies and councils of administration. 

REPORTS 

Section 64. That the municipalities shall annually forward copies 
of their budgets and of all their acts of legislative character to the 
Legislature. 


1 Amended May 12, 1920. 


APPENDIX I 


139 


JUDICIAL REMEDIES 

Section 65. That on motion of the aggrieved party the courts of 
justice shall have jurisdiction: 

(a) To annul or review by writ of certiorari any legislative or 
administrative act of the Municipal Assembly, Council of Adminis¬ 
tration or Commissioners, which infringes the constitutional rights of 
the complainant or which is contrary to the Organic Act or the laws 
of Porto Rico; 

(b ) To stay by injunction the execution of any ordinance, act, 
resolution or order which infringes rights guaranteed by the Constitu 
tion or insular laws; 

( c ) To compel by writ of mandamus a compliance with ministerial 
duties by municipal officials; 

(1 d ) To grant, by ordinary suit, compensation for damages, to 
parties injured by acts or omissions of municipal officials through 
malice or inexcusable negligence or ignorance. 

SALARIES PROTECTED 

Section 66 . That no part of the salary of any municipal officer 
or employee shall be subject to attachment. 

Section 67. That whenever a municipality has not sufficient 
funds fully to pay the salaries of its officers and employees in any 
month, the funds available shall be distributed among such officers 
and employees in proportion to their respective salaries. 

FUNDS NOT ATTACHABLE 

Section 68 . That funds in possession of the Treasurer of Porto 
Rico, belonging to any municipality, shall not be subject to attach¬ 
ment by any creditor of the municipality. 

FINES 

Section 69. That all fines collected by the courts for violations 
of municipal ordinances shall accrue and be paid to the proper munic¬ 
ipality and shall constitute general funds of the same. 


140 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Section 70. That the Executive Council is hereby empowered to 
make such provision and disposition as may be necessary to carry 
this Act into effect and to organize the new government of the respec¬ 
tive municipalities until such time as said governments shall begin to 
act, and to effect the transition from the present to the new system 
established hereunder. 

LAWS IN FORCE, APPLICABLE 

Section 71. 1 That the following laws or parts of laws shall be 
specially applied to municipalities with the amendments made 
thereto, as hereinafter stated: 

I. ‘An act authorizing the municipalities of Porto Rico to acquire 
and dispose of small tracts of lands for establishing villages in the 
rural districts,’ approved March 12, 1908. 

Section i. The municipalities of Porto Rico are hereby author- 
ized to acquire by purchase, gift, or otherwise, tracts of land in the 
rural districts for the purpose of establishing settlements. Funds for 
the acquiring of such tracts shall be from appropriations in the respec¬ 
tive municipal budgets and the Municipal Assembly shall by ordi¬ 
nance decide upon the location and purchase price. 

Section 2. The Municipal Assembly may, upon request, grant 
in perpetuity the use of building lots for the erection of houses thereon, 
and when a lot is granted as aforesaid, the owner of the house built 
thereon shall have the use of such lots as long as he maintains thereon 
a building in good condition, conforming to regulations established by 
ordinance; Provided , That neither the grantees nor their successors in 
interest shall change, modify or alter in any form whatever, or for any 
reason, the superficial area of the said lots, whatever the date of their 
respective grants, without the consent of the Municipal Assembly. 

Section 3. The Council of Administration may also alienate such 
building lots by private sale, authorizing the Commissioner of Public 
Service, Police and Prisons to execute the deeds therefor. The Munic¬ 
ipal Assembly shall by ordinance establish rules for such sales, selling 
price, and all other details and conditions. 

Section 4. That building lots so granted or sold shall not exceed 
one cuadro of land. 

1 Amended May 12, 1920 and July 12, 1921. 


APPENDIX I 


141 

Section 5. When in any municipality the Insular Government 
possesses land suitable for establishing villages, the Commissioner of 
the Interior, upon approval of the Executive Council, is empowered 
to deed to such municipality a tract of land not exceeding twenty-five 
cuerdas (acres) to each municipality to be used exclusively for the 
establishing of villages. 

Section 6. Municipalities shall reserve the necessary portion out 
of such tracts for the establishment of schools and children’s play¬ 
grounds, and for any other building or work of public utility. 

II. The sections herein below inserted, so amended as to be adapt¬ 
able to the new municipal system, of ‘ An Act to provide for the con¬ 
tracting of indebtedness, the borrowing of money and the issuing of 
bonds by municipal corporations and school boards of Porto Rico, 
and for other purposes,’ approved February 19, 1913, and subse¬ 
quently amended: 

Section 5. That any municipality may, in case of emergency, 
request a temporary loan from the insular funds, for increasing exist¬ 
ing or providing new budgetary appropriations for other than admin¬ 
istrative expenses. 

Section 6. That any municipal corporation desiring to contract 
indebtedness, borrow money or issue bonds on its own credit shall 
submit to the Executive Council of Porto Rico an ordinance duly 
adopted by the Municipal Assembly, which ordinance shall recite the 
circumstances rendering desirable the contracting of the indebtedness 
or of the loan, the amount of the same, the purpose or purposes to 
which it is to be devoted and shall provide for the discharge or repay¬ 
ment of the same with such interest and on such terms as the aforesaid 
Assembly may determine. 

Section 7. That if bonds are to be issued, the said ordinance shall 
also state the denomination thereof and whether the same are to be 
registered or coupon bonds. 

Section 9. That all municipal bonds and the coupons attached, 
if any, shall be signed by the Commissioner of Public Service, Police 
and Prisons and by the Municipal Secretary, and the date of each 
shall be recorded by the Municipal Secretary. 

Section ii. That the bonds shall bear interest at a rate not to 
exceed seven (7) per cent per annum, the interest to be payable in 


142 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


lawful money of the United States semiannually on the first day of 
January and July of each year. 

Section 12. That if any municipality shall in due form request a 
loan of funds from the Insular Government, and if in the judgment 
of the Executive Council the loan be advisable and the finance of the 
Insular Government will safely permit of its being made the Execu¬ 
tive Council may approve the same, and upon such approval and the 
approval of the Governor of Porto Rico, the Treasurer of Porto Rico 
shall be authorized to make the advance requested to the petitioning 
municipality. 

Section 13. Any municipal corporation requesting a loan from 
the Insular Government, to be covered by a bond issue, shall in each 
case provide in the ordinance requesting such loan, for the refunding 
of all outstanding indebtedness with The People of Porto Rico, not 
represented by bonds, which may exist at the time such ordinance is 
adopted, and the bond issue shall cover the total of such indebtedness 
plus the amount of the new loan to be contracted, and such bonds 
shall be countersigned by the Treasurer and Auditor of Porto Rico; 
Provided, however, That such countersignatures shall not be required 
on the coupons, if any, of the bonds. 

Section 14. That in addition to the authorization given in this 
Act to municipalities to borrow money from the Insular Government, 
any municipality may, upon approval of the Executive Council, 
borrow money directly from banks, other financial institutions or 
individuals. Any such loan shall be made only upon an ordinance 
duly adopted by the Municipal Assembly and approved by the Execu¬ 
tive Council of Porto Rico, as provided for in Section 26 of this Act, 
which said ordinance shall specify that interest and principal shall be 
payable by the Treasurer of Porto Rico from municipal revenues. 
Said interest shall be paid semiannually, on January first and July 
first of each year. 

Section 15. That in case the holder of any municipal bonds shall 
give notice in writing to the person authorized in the bond to pay 
both interest and principal thereof, that he wishes such bonds so held 
by him and the interest thereon to be paid in the United States, then 
such bonds and the interest on the same shall be so paid either in 
Washington, D. C., or New York City, and all bonds and coupons so 


APPENDIX I 


143 

paid must be returned to, and canceled by, the person autnorized in 
the bond to pay the same. 

Section 16. That in order to facilitate the sale or hypothecation 
of any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness authorized by this 
Act, the good faith of The People of Porto Rico is hereby irrevocably 
pledged for the payment of the interest as it falls due and the repay¬ 
ment of the principal thereof at maturity, provided it is so resolved by 
the Executive Council of Porto Rico at the request of the interested 
municipality. 

Section 17. That all moneys loaned or covered by bond issue or 
other evidences of indebtedness shall be paid into the municipal treas¬ 
ury and applied only to the purposes specified in the ordinance au¬ 
thorizing the loan; Provided , That the cost of engraving or preparing 
the bond certificates or evidences of indebtedness shall be borne by the 
municipality receiving the loan for which they are issued. Such 
certificates may be obtained through the Department of Finance, in 
the case of loans from insular funds, and the Treasurer of Porto Rico 
is hereby authorized, with the approval of the Executive Council, to 
prepare such certificates for use by the municipalities. 

Section 18. That the Commissioner of Finance of a municipal 
corporation obtaining an advance or loan of money from the Insular 
Government, or from any bank, financial institution or individual, 
under the conditions set forth in this Act, prior to receiving any of 
the money of the said advance or loan, shall furnish to the municipal 
corporation an additional bond which shall not be less than twenty 
(20) per cent of the loan made or the money to be received. The bond 
shall conform to the requirements specified in Section 40 of the 
Municipal Law. 

Section 19. That all municipalities are hereby authorized, when 
mutually agreeable to both contracting parties, to substitute new 
contracts for existing contracts evidencing indebtedness of such 
municipal corporation, upon such terms and conditions as may be 
approved by the Executive Council of Porto Rico. 

Section 20. That authority is hereby given to the Executive 
Council of Porto Rico to sell, cede, transfer, assign, pledge or hypothe¬ 
cate, unless otherwise prohibited by law, all evidences of indebted- 


i44 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


ness representing funds owing to The People of Porto Rico by munic¬ 
ipal corporations or school boards of Porto Rico. 

Section 21. That the Treasurer of Porto Rico is hereby author¬ 
ized to accept, at his discretion, at par, any of the bonds or other 
evidences of indebtedness described in this Law, as collateral security 
in cases where such security is required. 

Section 22. That the Treasurer of Porto Rico, subject to the 
approval of the Executive Council of Porto Rico, may sell, cede, 
assign, transfer, pledge or hypothecate, for the benefit of The People 
of Porto Rico, any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness which 
may have become the property of The People of Porto Rico by for¬ 
feiture, and he may, as between himself, as Treasurer of Porto Rico, 
and The People of Porto Rico, treat any bonds or other evidences of 
indebtedness of any municipal corporation in Porto Rico, as cash, in 
which event he shall be entitled to a credit amounting to the par value 
thereof, provided the same were accepted by him at this rate. 

Section 23. That all bonds and other evidences of indebtedness, 
heretofore or hereafter issued according to law, by a municipal cor¬ 
poration, are hereby exempt from the payment of all insular and 
municipal taxes. 

Section 24. That municipalities be and are hereby authorized 
and empowered to contract and provide in any ordinance as incident 
to the obtaining of advances or loans from The People of Porto Rico, 
or to the refunding or reissuing of existing evidences of indebtedness 
to The People of Porto Rico, or to the issuing of any bonds or other 
evidences of indebtedness authorized by law, that any public work 
or improvement included within the purposes of said ordinance, the 
cost of which in whole or in part is to be paid from the proceeds of 
such advance or loan, or from the sale, assignment, transfer, pledge 
or hypothecation of any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, 
shall be construed in accordance with plans and specifications ap¬ 
proved by the Commissioner of the Interior and the municipality. 
In this case every contract for the construction of such public works 
or improvements shall be entered into by the Commissioner of Public 
Service, Police and Prisons, in representation of the municipality, 
with the approval of the Council of Administration and of the Com¬ 
missioner of the Interior, and in compliance with the laws governing 


APPENDIX I 


145 


the construction of municipal public works or municipal improve¬ 
ments; Provided , That in any case concerning the construction of 
school houses, the plans, specifications, contracts and vouchers, shall 
be approved by the Commissioner of Education of Porto Rico. 

Section 25. That all moneys borrowed from the Insular Govern¬ 
ment by any municipality shall be exclusively devoted to the purpose 
or purposes specified in'the ordinance or ordinances authorizing such 
operation, and the Executive Council of Porto Rico shall have full 
power to require such accounting of the expenditure of such moneys 
as in its opinion is advisable. The residue from any loan made by the 
Insular Government to a municipality which may remain after the 
projects specified in the ordinance authorizing the same shall have 
been completed, shall be applied as the Executive Council may 
approve. 

Section 26. That no municipal corporation shall have power to 
borrow money, issue bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, and 
no such loan or bond issue shall be valid until the Executive Council 
of Porto Rico shall have first approved of the purpose or purposes of 
the loan or indebtedness to be contracted, the form of the bonds if any 
are to be issued, the terms of payment, the rate of interest and all 
other details connected with the same as well as the ordinance adopted 
by the municipal corporation by virtue of this Act. But immediately 
upon the final approval of the ordinance by both the Executive Coun¬ 
cil and the Governor of Porto Rico, where the loan is to be made from 
funds of the Insular Government, such ordinance shall become a con¬ 
tract absolute and binding upon such municipal corporation and 
upon all successors in office of the municipal corporation until such 
indebtedness shall have been entirely discharged, and shall be revo¬ 
cable only with the mutual consent of both the contracting parties 
and the approval of the Executive Council. 

Section 28. That to carry out the provisions of this Act there is 
hereby appropriated out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, such sums of money as may be required from 
time to time. 

III. ‘An Act to provide a method of refunding to the Insular Treas¬ 
ury the amounts loaned by The People of Porto Rico to the municipal 
corporations and school boards of Porto Rico and secured by bonds of 


146 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


the said municipal corporations and school boards,’ approved July 
26, 1913. [Appendix II.] 

IV. ‘Joint Resolution to authorize and regulate the issuance of 
bonds by the cities of Porto Rico, and for other purposes,’ approved 
April 13, 1916. [Appendix III.] 

V. ‘An Act authorizing the Treasurer of Porto Rico or any other 
officer empowered by law to accept bonds or other specified securities 
of Porto Rico, as a deposit for any purpose, likewise to accept bonds 
of municipal corporations and school boards of Porto Rico, issued 
according to law,’ approved April 12, 1917. [Appendix IV.] 

VI. ‘An Act authorizing the municipalities of Porto Rico to regu¬ 
late the resale of seats in theaters or other public amusements, and to 
levy and collect an annual license tax on speculators,’ approved 
April 12, 1917. [Appendix V.] 

VII. ‘An Act authorizing the formation of associations of two or 
more municipalities for the purpose of issuing bonds for the survey, 
project and construction of roads and other works, redeemable 
through a surcharge of the tax on the value of the real property of the 
municipalities interested; granting to such associations the character 
of public corporations, and regulating their organization and opera¬ 
tion, and for other purposes,’ approved November 30, 1917. [Ap¬ 
pendix VI.] 

VIII. ‘Aii Act regulating the sale of seats in moving-picture theaters 
devoted to public exhibitions, and for other purposes,’ approved 
May 29, 1919. [Appendix VII.] 

IX. ‘The Compiled School Law’ and ‘An Act to reorganize the 
Sanitation Service,’ in so much thereof as not in conflict with the 
purpose of this Act of granting to municipalities ample administra¬ 
tive autonomy. [Consult The Compiled School Law and a copy of the 
Sanitation Act.] 

TRANSITORY SECTION 

Section 72. That from and after the date on which this Act 
takes effect, the present Municipal Councils shall assume, until the 
Municipal Assemblies shall have been elected and duly organized, all 
the powers, functions and duties of the latter, in each of the munici¬ 
palities of the Island; but the number of members of the said councils 


APPENDIX I 


147 


shall be increased to thirteen in municipalities which at the present 
time have nine councilmen; to nine in municipalities having at pres¬ 
ent seven councilmen, and to seven in those which at present have 
five councilmen; Provided , That appointments of new members 
required to complete the aforesaid numbers shall be made by the 
Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall be 
made from persons affiliated with the political party which cast at 
the last municipal election, in each municipality, the largest number 
of votes for the office of mayor, next to the victorious party in the 
said municipality, which said appointments shall be made by the 
Governor on recommendation of the central directing organizations 
of the political parties. 

The Municipal Council, so constituted, shall proceed to elect the 
members of the Council of Administration, which shall assume all 
the powers, functions and duties assigned to them by this Act, and 
thereupon all organizations and officers whose powers and duties are 
to be assumed by the aforesaid Commissioners, shall cease in the 
discharge of their respective offices; Provided, That the Municipal 
Council, acting as a Municipal Assembly, shall immediately hold its 
inaugural session provided for by this Act and shall have power to 
modify the municipal budget for the purposes of adapting the same 
to the system provided by said Act; Provided, further, That in the 
municipality of Villalba four additional members for the Municipal 
Council shall be designated in the aforesaid manner, of whom three 
shall be nominated by the political party which cast the largest 
number of votes for the office of Commissioner to Washington at the 
last general election, and one by the party which shall have cast at the 
same election for the same office the next largest number of votes. 


TRANSITORY PROVISIONS 

Section 73. That the duties and powers imposed and conferred 
on Mayors by the acts hereinbefore recited, as well as by any other 
laws in force, are hereby vested in the Public Service Commissioner; 
those pertaining to the Municipal Treasurer, in the Commissioner of 
Finance; those pertaining to the School Board, in the Municipal 
Commissioner of Public Education; those of the Treasurer of the 


148 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


School Boards, in the Commissioner of Municipal Finance, and those 
of the Municipal Comptroller, in the Municipal Auditor. 

Section 74. That no act performed or contract validly made by 
a School Board or municipality shall in any way be impaired by this 
Act; Provided , That the liquidation of the School Boards shall be 
made by a commission consisting of a representative of the respective 
Council of Administration, a representative of the respective School 
Board, an employee of the Auditor’s office appointed by the Auditor 
of Porto Rico, and another employee appointed by the Department 
of Education, which commission shall proceed to liquidate all funds, 
amounts and properties of the School Boards for the purpose of trans¬ 
ferring the same to the respective municipalities from the date on 
which this Act takes effect. 

REPEALING CLAUSES 

Section 75. The municipal law, and all laws or parts of laws in 
conflict herewith, are hereby repealed. Paragraph 1 of Section 26 of 
“An Act to reorganize the sanitation service,” approved March 14, 
1912, as amended by Act 25 of March 28,1914, which reads as follows 
is hereby especially repealed: 

“Section 26. That there shall be appointed by the Director of 
Sanitation, with the approval of the Governor of Porto Rico, for each 
municipality of the Island, a health officer, whose salary shall be fixed 
by, or in accordance with law, the appointees to be physicians quali¬ 
fied to practice and they shall have practiced in the Island for a period 
of at least one year; Provided, That where the Director shall consider 
it advisable he may unite two or more municipalities under a single 
health officer; And provided, further, That in municipalities of the 
second and third class the municipal doctor, with the approval of the 
Director of Sanitation and so long as the said Director of Sanitation 
may deem it advisable, may also render services as sanitary inspector, 
receiving from the Insular Treasury such salary as may be fixed by the 
Director of Sanitation, not exceeding sixty dollars per month, in addi¬ 
tion to such salary as may be fixed for him by the municipality.” 

That part hereinafter copied of Section 36 of the said “Act to 
reorganize the sanitation service,” approved March 14, 1912, as 


APPENDIX I 149 

amended by Act No. 25 of March 28, 1914, is also especially repealed 
hereby: 

Section 36. That beginning July 1, 1914, the Treasurer of 
Porto Rico is hereby authorized and directed to deduct from any 
funds in his possession, pertaining to the respective municipalities, an 
amount equal to six per cent of the net revenues of each municipality, 
which amounts shall be covered into the general funds of the Insular 
Treasury to meet, in part, the expenses incurred by the Service of 
Sanitation, and shall be in addition to any expense incurred by the 
respective municipalities under the provisions of Section 26 of this 
Act; Provided, That the term ‘net revenues’ as used in this section 
shall be construed to mean the sum of the ‘ordinary funds’ and 
‘road funds’ available for expenditure during the year; And pro¬ 
vided, further, That. 


DATE OF TAKING EFFECT 

Section 76. This Act shall take effect ninety days after its 
approval. 

Approved, July 31, 1919. 


APPENDIX II 


AN ACT 

TO PROVIDE A METHOD OF REFUNDING TO THE INSULAR TREASURY THE 
AMOUNTS LOANED BY THE PEOPLE OF PORTO RICO TO THE MUNICIPAL 
CORPORATIONS AND SCHOOL BOARDS OF PORTO RICO AND SECURED 
BY THE BONDS OF THE SAID MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS AND SCHOOL 
BOARDS. 

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico: 

Section i. That for the purpose of providing a method of refund¬ 
ing to the Insular Treasury the amounts loaned from time to time by 
The People of Porto Rico to the Municipal Corporations and School 
Boards of Porto Rico and secured by the bonds of the said Municipal 
Corporations and School Boards, issued in accordance with an Act 
entitled “An Act to provide for the contracting of indebtedness, the 
borrowing of money and the issuing of bonds by Municipal Corpora¬ 
tions and School Boards of Porto Rico; and for other purposes,” 
approved February 19, 1913, the Treasurer of Porto Rico is hereby 
authorized and empowered to issue bonds of The People of Porto 
Rico in accordance with the conditions herein specified. 

Section 2. That said bonds shall be issued at such times and in 
such amounts as the Executive Council of Porto Rico shall determine; 
Provided , That at no time shall the aggregate amount of such bonds 
outstanding and unpaid exceed the aggregate amount of unpaid 
municipal corporation and school board bonds held and owned by 
The People of Porto Rico. Except that for the purpose of this Sec¬ 
tion, bonds to be issued by any Municipal Corporation or School 
Board to The People of Porto Rico and to be held by The People of 
Porto Rico, the ordinance or ordinances providing for which shall 
have been duly passed by the Municipal Council or School Board, 
approved by the Mayor, in case of municipal bonds, by the Commis¬ 
sioner of Education, in case of school board bonds, and by the Execu- 

150 





APPENDIX II 


151 

tive Council and Governor of Porto Rico, may be considered as held 
and owned by The People of Porto Rico from the date of such final 
approval of the ordinance by the Governor of Porto Rico even though 
the bonds shall not have been actually issued and delivered by the 
Municipal Corporation or School Board to The People of Porto Rico. 

Section 3. That said bonds shall be in registered or coupon form 
or both and in any or all of the following denominations: one thous¬ 
and (1,000) dollars; five thousand (5,000) dollars; ten thousand 
(10,000) dollars; and any coupon bonds issued shall be made ex¬ 
changeable for registered bonds. 

Said bonds shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed four and one- 
half (4^2) per cent per annum, which interest shall be payable semi¬ 
annually on the first day of each January and July. They shall be 
divided into series for payment, the series shall be indicated by a 
serial letter on each bond and the separate series shall be redeemable 
and payable on such dates and in such amounts as shall be determined 
by the Executive Council within such limits as shall be necessary in 
order to insure full compliance with Section 2 hereof. Both principal 
and interest shall be payable either at the Treasury of the United 
States or in Porto Rico at the office of the Treasurer of Porto Rico, or 
at the office of the fiscal agent of the Government of Porto Rico 
appointed therefor in the United States, as the Executive Council 
may determine, in gold coin of the United States of the present 
standard of weight and fineness. 

Section 4. That said bonds shall be sold by the Secretary of War 
of the United States or by the Treasurer of Porto Rico or by any fiscal 
agent duly appointed for that purpose by the Treasurer of Porto Rico 
with the approval of the Executive Council of Porto Rico, upon such 
terms as are most favorable to The People of Porto Rico, and as near 
to the dates of their issuance as is practicable. The proceeds from 
their sale shall be deposited with an authorized depository of the 
Government of Porto Rico to be designated by the Treasurer of 
Porto Rico and shall become a part of the general funds of the Insular 
Treasury 

Section 5. That to the payment of the interest and principal of 
said bonds shall be devoted the proceeds, or so much thereof as may 
be necessary, to be derived from the payments of interest and princi- 


152 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


pal of the municipal corporation and school-board bonds held and 
owned by The People of Porto Rico, and in addition any necessary 
portion of the general funds of The People of Porto Rico not otherwise 
appropriated. 

Section 6 . That the foregoing provisions in regard to the pay¬ 
ment of interest on said bonds, and the repayment of the principal, 
shall be deemed to be in the nature of a continuous appropriation, and 
be sufficient authorization to the Treasurer of Porto Rico to make 
such payments, and no further appropriation for such purpose shall be 
required. Such payments, however, shall be made upon the warrants 
of the Auditor of Porto Rico, countersigned by the Governor of Porto 
Rico, in accordance with the general provisions of the law relative to 
the transfer and disbursement of public moneys. 

Section 7. That said bonds are hereby declared to be exempt 
from the payment of taxes of any kind whatsoever, of the Govern¬ 
ment of Porto Rico, or any local sub-division or authority thereof. 

Section 8 . That for the payment of the interest on said bonds, as 
it falls due, and the repayment of the principal, the good faith of The 
People of Porto Rico is hereby irrevocably pledged. 

Section 9. That the Treasurer of Porto Rico shall accept any of 
the bonds of The People of Porto Rico at par, as collateral security 
in any case where such security is required. 

Section 10. That the Treasurer of Porto Rico, subject to the 
approval of the Executive Council of Porto Rico, may sell, transfer, 
assign, pledge, or hypothecate, for the benefit of The People of Porto 
Rico, any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness which may have 
become the property of The People of Porto Rico by forfeiture or 
otherwise, and he may, as between himself, as Treasurer of Porto 
Rico, and The People of Porto Rico, treat any such bonds or other 
evidences of indebtedness as cash, in which event he shall be entitled 
to a credit in his accounts amounting to the par value thereof, pro¬ 
vided the same were accepted by him at par. 

Section ii. That the bonds issued under the authority of this 
Act, and the obligations created thereby, shall not be impaired by any 
Act or Resolution which the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico may 
subsequently enact, or by any interpretation thereof, or by any in¬ 
terpretation of any Act or Resolution heretofore approved; but said 


APPENDIX II 


T 53 


bonds, when duly issued and sold, shall constitute a legal and binding 
obligation on the Government of Porto Rico until properly redeemed 
and paid. 

Section 12. That to defray all expenses that may be incurred in 
carrying out the purposes of this act, there is hereby appropriated in 
the form of a continuous appropriation the sum of ten thousand 
(10,000) dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary for each issue 
of said bonds, to be expended under the authority and with the 
approval of the Governor of Porto Rico. 

Section 13. That the Executive Council of Porto Rico shall have 
entire charge and authority within the limitations prescribed, in re¬ 
spect to all matters relating to said bonds, and shall take all action 
necessary for the complete carrying out of the provisions of this Act, 
and may provide for the issue of interim bonds or interim certificates 
therefor pending the preparation of definitive bonds. 

Section 14. That all laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith are 
hereby repealed. 

Section 15. That this Act shall take effect on and after its 
approval. 


Approved, July 26 1913. 


APPENDIX III 


JOINT RESOLUTION 

TO AUTHORIZE AND REGULATE THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS BY THE CITIES 
OF PORTO RICO, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

WHEREAS, It is impossible for municipalities, under the present 
laws, to incur indebtedness, and issue bonds to secure the payment 
thereof, without the credit of The People of Porto Rico being pledged; 
and 

WHEREAS, It is not deemed advisable that The People of Porto 
Rico should pledge its credit in all cases of municipal bond issues; and 

WHEREAS, In many cases municipalities are able to secure loans 
to advantage without the credit of The People of Porto Rico being 
pledged; and 

WHEREAS, The municipality of San Juan has provided for the 
issuance of bonds on condition that the credit of The People of Porto 
Rico shall be pledged, or not pledged, according as the Legislative 
Assembly of Porto Rico shall determine; and 

WHEREAS, It is deemed advisable to provide that the credit of 
The People of Porto Rico shall not be pledged to secure the said bond 
issue; and 

WHEREAS, The municipality of Ponce has approved a loan with¬ 
out the approval of the Executive Council: 

NOW, THEREFORE, Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of 
Porto Rico: 

Section i. That section 16 of an “Act to Provide for the Con¬ 
tracting of Indebtedness, the Borrowing of Money and the Issuing of 
Bonds by Municipal Corporations and School Boards of Porto Rico, 
and for other purposes,” approved February 19, 1913, is amended to 
read as follows: 

“Section 16. That in order to facilitate the sale or hypothecation 
of any bonds or other evidences of indebtedness authorized by this 

154 


APPENDIX II 


155 


Act, the good faith of The People of Porto Rico shall be irrevocably 
pledged for the payment of interest as it falls due and the repayment 
of the principal thereof at maturity, in case the Executive Council so 
provides in writing at the time of approving the purpose or purposes 
of the loan or indebtedness to be contracted, otherwise the good faith 
and credit of The People of Porto Rico shall not be pledged.” 

Section 2. The bond issue of $1,700,000 provided for by ordi¬ 
nance of the municipality of San Juan enacted October 8, 1915, and 
approved by the mayor of San Juan on October 9, 1915, and the pur¬ 
poses provided in said ordinance to which the proceeds shall be ap¬ 
plied and the special tax voted by said municipality on October 13, 
1915, to provide for the payment of the principal and interest of said 
bonds are hereby affirmed, approved and declared legal, and all the 
proceedings taken with regard to the authorizing thereof are hereby 
affirmed, ratified and declared legal, and the municipality of San 
Juan is hereby authorized to proceed with the issue of said bonds, 
with the approval of the Executive Council, and under such condi¬ 
tions as shall be determined by the Executive Council, and shall be 
legally responsible for the payment of the interest and principal 
thereof. The municipality may, with the approval of the Executive 
Council, transfer the use of the funds devoted to any of the purposes 
provided therein, in case they are not necessary for the purposes to 
which they were originally devoted, and the validity of the bonds 
shall not be affected by the application of the proceeds thereof. Said 
municipality shall provide in the budget each year an amount suffi¬ 
cient to pay the interest and principal falling due, and in case for any 
reason the special tax provided for by said municipality and the 
budgetary appropriations are not sufficient to pay such principal and 
interest, the said municipality shall levy an additional tax for the 
purpose upon all taxable real and personal property of the municipal¬ 
ity: Provided, That the Treasurer of Porto Rico is hereby authorized 
and directed to withhold for the payment of installments of principal 
and interest of said bonds accruing in any one fiscal year, sufficient 
funds from the revenues of the municipality to provide for the pay¬ 
ment of such installments of principal and interest. Said municipal¬ 
ity is hereby authorized, with the approval of the Executive Council, 
notwithstanding the terms of the ordinance above referred to, to pro- 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


156 

vide that said bonds shall be issued in serial form subject to redemp¬ 
tion at the option of the municipality at a time not less than five years 
from their date and at a price not greater than 105 per cent of their 
par value, and such of said bonds as are subject to redemption shall 
state the terms upon which such redemption may be made and the 
notice to be given thereof; Provided, That the amount of $1,700,000 
shall be the maximum of said loan, which maximum may be reduced 
by an ordinance of said municipality; Provided, That all future pro¬ 
ceedings and transactions not inconsistent with this Act shall be car¬ 
ried on and conducted in the manner provided by an “Act to Provide 
for the Contracting of Indebtedness, the Borrowing of Money and the 
Issuing of Bonds by Municipal Corporations and School Boards of 
Porto Rico, and for other purposes, approved February 19, 1913, and 
the amendments thereto, to the same extent as if the bond issue 
hereby authorized had been guaranteed and secured by the pledge of 
the good faith and credit of The People of Porto Rico for the payment 
of the interest and the repayment of the principal, and to the same 
effect as if the requirements of Section 24 of the said Act of February 
19, 1913, had been complied with and made a part of the ordinance 
authorizing the contracting of the loan. It is hereby further enacted 
that the good faith of The People of Porto Rico is not pledged for the 
payment of the interest on said bonds as it falls due and the repay¬ 
ment of the principal thereof at maturity. 

Section 3. The bond issue provided for by ordinance of the 
municipality of Ponce enacted June 17, 1913, duly approved by the 
mayor of Ponce, and amended at an extraordinary session of said 
municipality of Ponce, held on April 10, 1916, duly approved by the 
mayor, and the purposes provided in said ordinance to which the 
proceeds shall be applied are hereby affirmed, approved and declared 
legal and all the proceedings taken with regard to the authorizing 
thereof are hereby affirmed, ratified and declared legal, and the munic¬ 
ipality of Ponce is hereby authorized to proceed with the issue of said 
bonds, with the approval of the Executive Council, and under such 
conditions as shall be determined by the Executive Council, and said 
loan shall be equivalent to a maximum amount equal to six per 
centum of its present assessed valuation, in accordance with law, and 
said municipality shall be legally responsible for the payment of in- 


APPENDIX III 


157 


terest and principal thereof. The municipality may, with the ap¬ 
proval of the Executive Council, transfer the use of the funds devoted 
to any of the purposes provided for by said municipal ordinances to 
any of the other purposes provided therein, in case they are not 
necessary for the purposes to which they were originally devoted, and 
the validity of the bonds shall not be affected by the application of 
the proceeds thereof. Said municipality shall provide in the budget 
each year an amount sufficient to pay the interest and principal falling 
due, and in case for any reason the special tax provided for by said 
municipality and the budgetary appropriations are not sufficient to 
pay such principal and interest, the said municipality shall levy an 
additional tax for the purpose upon all taxable real and personal 
property of the municipality; Provided , That the Treasurer of Porto 
Rico is hereby authorized and directed to withhold for the payment 
of the installments of principal and interest on said bonds accruing in 
any one fiscal year, sufficient funds from the revenues of the munic¬ 
ipality to provide for the payment of such installments of principal 
and interest. Said municipality is hereby authorized, with the ap¬ 
proval of the Executive Council, notwithstanding the terms of the 
ordinance above referred to, to provide that said bonds shall be issued 
in serial form subject to redemption at the option of the municipality 
at a time not less than five years from their date and at a price not 
greater than 105 per cent of their par value, and such of said bonds 
as are subject to redemption shall state the terms upon which such 
redemption may be made and the notice to be given thereof: Pro¬ 
vided, That all future proceedings and transactions not inconsistent 
with this Act shall be carried on and conducted in the manner pro¬ 
vided by an “Act to provide for the Contracting of Indebtedness, the 
Borrowing of Money and the Issuing of Bonds by Municipal Corpo¬ 
rations and School Boards of Porto Rico, and for other purposes,” 
approved February 19, 1913, and the amendment thereto, to the same 
extent as if the bond issue hereby authorized had been guaranteed and 
secured by the pledge of the good faith and credit of The People of 
Porto Rico for the payment of the interest and the repayment of the 
principal, and to the same effect as if the requirements of Section 24 
of the said Act of February 19, 1913, had been complied with and 
made a part of the ordinance authorizing the contracting of the loan. 


158 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


It is hereby further enacted that the good faith of The People of 
Porto Rico is not pledged for the payment of the interest on said 
bonds as it falls due and the repayment of the principal thereof at 
maturity; Provided , That to carry out the provisions of this section, 
the municipality of Ponce shall hold a joint assembly of the munic¬ 
ipal council and of the property taxpayers for the purpose of deter¬ 
mining whether or not a special tax shall be levied in accordance with 
the provisions of said law, as amended, and the proceedings of said 
assembly shall be taken in the form prescribed by the aforesaid law 
and amendments thereto. 

Section 4. That all laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith are 
hereby repealed. 

Section 5. That this Act shall take effect upon its approval. 

Approved, April 13, 1916. 


APPENDIX IV 


AN ACT 


Authorizing the treasurer of porto rico or any other officer 

EMPOWERED BY LAW TO ACCEPT BONDS OR OTHER SPECIFIED 
SECURITIES OF PORTO RICO, AS A DEPOSIT FOR ANY PURPOSE, LIKE¬ 
WISE TO ACCEPT BONDS OF MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS AND SCHOOL 
BOARDS OF PORTO RICO, ISSUED ACCORDING TO LAW. 

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico: 

Section i. That whenever by any law the Treasurer of Porto 
Rico, or any other officer, is authorized to accept bonds or other speci¬ 
fied securities of Porto Rico, as a deposit for any purpose, similar 
authority is hereby conferred upon said officer or officers to accept 
bonds of the Municipal Corporations and School Boards of Porto 
Rico, issued according to law. 

Section 2. That all laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith are 
hereby repealed. 

Section 3. That this Act shall take effect immediately after its 
passage. 

Approved, April 12, 1917. 


*59 



APPENDIX V 


AN ACT 

AUTHORIZING THE MUNICIPALITIES OF PORTO RICO TO REGULATE THE 
RESALE OF SEATS IN THEATERS OR OTHER PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS, 
AND TO LEVY AND COLLECT AN ANNUAL LICENSE TAX ON SPECU¬ 
LATORS. 

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico: 

Section i. That the municipal councils of the municipalities of 
Porto Rico are hereby authorized to regulate by means of ordinance 
the resale of seats in theaters and other public amusements, and to 
levy on and collect an annual tax not to exceed $1,500 from any per¬ 
son, firm, association, partnership, corporation or any other form of 
commercial organization engaged in the business of reselling theater 
tickets or tickets for other public amusements. 

Section 2. Nothwithstanding the provisions of Section 4 of “An 
Act authorizing the municipalities of the Island of Porto Rico to levy 
and collect annual taxes to be used in meeting their budgetary ex¬ 
penses, and for other purposes,” approved March 28, 1914, municipal 
councils may levy the license tax herein determined on any volume of 
business of this class. 

Section 3. That all laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith are 
hereby repealed. 

Section 4. That this Act shall take effect immediately after its 
approval. 

Approved, April 12, ipiy. 


160 


APPENDIX VI 


AN ACT 

AUTHORIZING THE FORMATION OF ASSOCIATIONS OF TWO OR MORE 
MUNICIPALITIES FOR THE PURPOSE OF ISSUING BONDS FOR THE 
SURVEY, PROJECT AND CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS AND OTHER 
WORKS, REDEEMABLE THROUGH A SURCHARGE OF THE TAX ON THE 
VALUE OF THE REAL PROPERTY OF THE MUNICIPALITIES INTER¬ 
ESTED; GRANTING TO SUCH ASSOCIATIONS THE CHARACTER OF 
PUBLIC CORPORATIONS, AND REGULATING THEIR ORGANIZATION 
AND OPERATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 

Be it enacted by the Legislature of Porto Rico: 

Section i . That whenever two or more municipalities, or five or 
more real-state owners in two or more municipalities representing ten 
(io) per cent of the taxable real property therein, desire a study, 
project or construction of a road or system or roads joining said mu¬ 
nicipalities, or several vicinal roads thereof, or any of these roads or 
barrios with an insular road or with a port, they may request the 
mayor of the municipality having the largest population among those 
interested to call all the real-property taxpayers of such municipali¬ 
ties in their capacity of property owners, to meet in an assembly, 
fixing the day, hour and place within the municipalities interested, 
and it shall be the duty of said mayor to issue such call. The provi¬ 
sions of an act entitled “An Act to Provide for the Contracting of 
Indebtedness, the Borrowing of Money and the Issuing of Bonds by 
Municipal Corporations and School Boards of Porto Rico; and for 
other purposes,” approved February 19,1913, and of an Act amending 
the same, (Act No. 20, approved in March, 1914), shall be applicable 
as far as possible, to calling and holding the said assembly. Peti¬ 
tioners shall furnish the funds necessary for such call. 

Section 2. Should there be a quorum present at the said assem¬ 
bly, consisting of one-third of the taxpayers of the assembled munic¬ 
ipalities, the mayor who issued the call shall call the assembly to 

161 


162 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


order, and the assembly shall proceed to elect a president, and a secre¬ 
tary from among its own members, and by majority vote it may 
adopt an ordinance providing for the survey, project and construc¬ 
tion by the Commissioner of the Interior of any of the roads men¬ 
tioned in the preceding section, and also for the collection of a special 
surcharge of not to exceed twenty-five hundredths (25/100) of one per 
cent over and above "the tax levied on the assessable real property of 
the municipalities interested in the work, during such term of years 
as may be necessary for the redemption of the principal and interest 
of such loan as they may decide to contract for the carrying out of 
such work. The ordinance shall contain all requirements provided 
by law for municipal loans. 

The said assembly of taxpayers, duly called and organized, shall 
have the legal character and condition of a public corporation, and 
shall be known as the “Association of Municipalities of. 


(name of 

.and. and may delegate the 

municipality) (name of municipality) 


whole or any part of its powers as a corporation, and the execution of 
its resolutions to an executive board of seven persons, elected by 
secret ballot from among the taxpayers of the associated munic¬ 
ipalities. 

Section 3. That the executive board shall have power to repre¬ 
sent the corporation in court or out of court and to bind the same 
lawfully, within the powers thereunto conferred; it may call the 
assembly to meet and compel the attendance of its members or of any 
witness by subpoenas issued to any marshal of the municipal courts 
in the municipalities interested who shall render their services without 
any remuneration whatever. Disobedience to a subpoena may be 
punished as contempt by the corresponding municipal court. 

Section 4. The ordinance of the assembly, duly approved, shall 
constitute sufficient authority for the Treasurer of Porto Rico to 
proceed to issue and sell the bonds of the loan agreed upon and to 
levy and collect the surcharge voted for the redemption thereof and 
for interest thereon, beginning with the fiscal year following the issue 
and sale of the bonds. As soon as the Treasurer of Porto Rico has 
sufficient funds in his power he shall report to the Commissioner of 





APPENDIX VI 163 

the Interior who shall proceed to the survey, project and execution 
of the work as in the case of any other insular public work. 

Section 5. That the ordinance of the assembly shall determine 
the points of beginning and ending of the road, its width, and, in 
general terms, the direction thereof, and the barrios and estates 
through which it shall pass. 

Section 6. Upon request of any association of municipalities as 
herein described, the Commissioner of the Interior shall make a sur¬ 
vey of an estimate for any road included in the provisions hereof; 
to this end, and to cover the expenses of issuing and selling the bonds 
for any loan duly authorized by this Act the Treasurer of Porto Rico 
is hereby empowered to make such advances as may be necessary to 
said associations of municipalities, from any funds in the Treasury of 
Porto Rico not otherwise appropriated. The amounts advanced by 
the Insular Treasury shall be reimbursed to it from the proceeds of 
the issue of bonds, the sale of which is hereby intended. 

Section 7. That the maintenance of such roads as may be con¬ 
structed in accordance with this Act shall be for account of the Insu¬ 
lar Government, but each of the associated municipalities shall con¬ 
tribute thereto a sum not to exceed one-half the road fund appropri¬ 
ated in its respective budget, the Treasurer of Porto Rico being hereby 
authorized to retain said sum. The Commissioner of the Interior 
shall determine the amount necessary for such construction. 

Section 8. That roads which are the object of this Act shall be 
declared of public utility for purposes of condemnation of property 
the same as in the case of insular roads. 

Section 9. That in the assemblies referred to in this Act, voting 
shall be by roll call, and votes in the affirmative and in the negative 
shall be entered in the minutes, with a statement as to the assessed 
valuation of taxable property of the municipalities concerned, and 
that of each voting taxpayer. An absolute majority of the total num¬ 
ber of taxpayers of the municipalities represented in the assembly 
shall be required for the adoption of any resolution; Provided , That 
in cases of attendance by proxy at said assemblies the proxy shall con¬ 
tain specific instructions as to the manner of voting at such assemblies 
by the proxies, otherwise said proxies shall be void. 

Section 10. That the affirmative vote of any taxpayer carries 


164 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


with it the conclusive presumption that he donates to the association 
such lands of his property as it may be necessary to occupy for the 
proposed work. 

Section ii. That resolutions of the majority shall be obligatory 
upon all taxpayers duly called, and the negative vote of any taxpayer 
or his absence from the assembly shall not exempt him from the pay¬ 
ment of the surcharge agreed upon by the majority. 

Section 12. Failure to call any taxpayer shall not invalidate any 
of the proceedings or resolutions of the assembly, but such taxpayers 
as shall not have been called shall be exempt from the surcharge 
adopted by the assembly. 

Section 13. That municipalities may allot the whole or part of 
the obligatory appropriation for roads, pursuant to the Municipal 
Law, to the redemption of loans contracted in accordance with this 
Act. 

Section 14. That for the purpose of the limitation of municipali¬ 
ties for the contracting of indebtedness, the loans of the “Municipal 
Roads’ Association” shall be apportioned pro rata among the inter¬ 
ested municipalities in proportion to the assessable real property of 
each, but this section shall not be construed as dividing the responsi¬ 
bility contracted by the said associations among the municipalities 
interested therein. 

Section 15. That this Act shall also be applicable to the purposes 
hereinafter set forth, to wit: 

(a) Construction of bridges which, having been constructed, shall 
be in charge of the Commissioner of the Interior for maintenance and 
repair. 

(b) Construction of school buildings for teaching the elementary 
grades or adults, which buildings when constructed shall be adminis¬ 
tered and maintained by the Department of Education. 

(c) Cemeteries and civil-registry offices to be administered and 
maintained by the respective municipalities. 

(d) Hospitals, tuberculosis sanatoriums, orphan asylums, asylums 
for mendicants, and maternity hospitals, including proper equipment 
and instruments. 

(e) Construction of dams and aqueducts for the supply of potable 
water and generation of motive power. 


APPENDIX VI 


165 

Said institutions shall be maintained by the associated munic¬ 
ipalities in proportion to their taxable wealth and administered by a 
board directed by the municipal councils of said municipalities, in 
accordance with such regulations as tfie Commissioner of Health may 
prescribe. 

Section 16. That all laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith 
are hereby repealed. 

Section 17. That this Act shall take effect ninety days after its 
approval. 

Approved, November jo, 1917 . 


APPENDIX VII 
JOINT RESOLUTION 

REGULATING THE SALE OF SEATS IN MOVING-PICTURE THEATERS DE¬ 
VOTED TO PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 

WHEREAS, Wise rules of the Department of Health have called 
the attention of the inhabitants of Porto Rico to the prejudicial effect 
of keeping the public agglomerated in places where the atmosphere 
may easily become vitiated; and 

WHEREAS, It is a menace to public health to permit, in places 
where exhibitions are not given in the open air, as it now happens in 
the so-called moving-picture shows, where, in a deliberate manner 
and unmindful of the health of patrons, more seats to be sold than 
are available in such places; and 

WHEREAS, We already have had to lament in the said places, 
cases of asphixia of children and women, which have not been suffi¬ 
cient to cause such moving-picture theaters to take proper measures 
to protect the public which, seeking amusement, attends such places; 

NOW, THEREFORE, Be it resolved by the Legislature of Porto 
Rico: 

Section i. That any owner of a theater, moving-picture house, 
or of any other place devoted to public exhibitions, shall make a 
declaration and post the same to the public in a conspicuous place as 
to the number of seats that he has, and the classification thereof. 

Section 2. That at no time shall there be sold at the ticket office 
of any theater, moving-picture house or any other place devoted to 
public exhibitions more tickets classified as seats than the number 
thereof available at said places, whether such are numbered or not. 

Section 3. That any theater, moving-picture house, or any other 
place devoted to exhibitions of public shows shall, upon application 
for a license, declare the number of seats available and if after the 
issuance thereof, the capacity of the place devoted to such purpose 

166 


APPENDIX VII 167 

has been increased, it shall be so declared to the municipality in which 
it is situated. 

Section 4. That municipalities shall provide, by ordinance, rules 
and regulations for compliance with this Act, fixing a proper penalty 
for non-compliance therewith. 

Section 5. That all laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith are 
hereby repealed. 

Section 6. That this Act is declared to be urgent and shall take 
effect upon its approval. 


Approved , May 24, 1919. 


APPENDIX VIII 

THE ORGANIC LAW OF PORTO RICO 

AN ACT 


TO PROVIDE A CIVIL GOVERNMENT FOR PORTO RICO, AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of this 
Act shall apply to the Island of Porto Rico and to the adjacent islands 
belonging to the United States, and waters of those islands; and the 
name Porto Rico as used in this Act shall be held to include not only 
the island of that name but all the adjacent islands as aforesaid. 

BILL OF RIGHTS 

Section 2. That no law shall be enacted in Porto Rico which 
shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due pro¬ 
cess of law, or deny to any person therein the equal protection of the 
laws. 

That in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
to have the assistance of counsel for his defense, to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation, to have a copy thereof, to have a 
speedy and public trial, to be confronted with the witnesses against 
him, and to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his 
favor. 

That no person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense with¬ 
out due process of law; and no person for the same offense shall be 
twice put in jeopardy of punishment, nor shall be compelled in any 
criminal case to be a witness against himself. 

That all persons shall before conviction be bailable by sufficient 
sureties, except for capital offenses when the proof is evident or the 
presumption great. 

168 


APPENDIX VIII 169 

That no law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be enacted. 

That no person shall be imprisoned for debt. 

That the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus¬ 
pended, unless when in case of rebellion, insurrection, or invasion the 
public safety may require it, in either of which events the same may 
be suspended by the President, or by the Governor, whenever during 
such period the necessity for such suspension shall exist. 

That no ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted. 

Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use 
except upon payment of just compensation ascertained in the manner 
provided by law. 

Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to limit the power 
of the Legislature to enact laws for the protection of the lives, health, 
or safety of employees. 

That no law granting a title of nobility shall be enacted, and no 
person holding any office of profit or trust under the government of 
Porto Rico shall, without the consent of the Congress of the United 
States, accept any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind 
whatever from any king, queen, prince, or foreign State, or any officer 
thereof. 

That excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im¬ 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

That the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seiz¬ 
ures shall not be violated. 

That no warrant for arrest or search shall issue but upon probable 
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing 
the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. 

That slavery shall not exist in Porto Rico. 

That involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall not exist in 
Porto Rico. 

That no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of 
the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and peti¬ 
tion the Government for redress of grievances. 

That no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion 
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and that the free exercise and 
enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination 


170 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


or preference shall forever be allowed, and that no political or reli¬ 
gious test other than an oath to support the Constitution of the 
United States and the laws of Porto Rico shall be required as a quali¬ 
fication to any office or public trust under the Government of Porto 
Rico. 

That no public money or property shall ever be appropriated, ap¬ 
plied, donated, used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or 
support of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution or 
association, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of 
any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary 
as such, or for charitable, industrial, educational, or benevolent pur¬ 
poses to any person, corporation, or community not under the abso¬ 
lute control of Porto Rico. Contracting of polygamous or plural 
marriages hereafter is prohibited. 

That one year after the approval of this Act and thereafter it shall 
be unlawful to import, manufacture, sell, or give away, or to expose 
for sale or gift any intoxicating drink or drug: Provided , That the 
Legislature may authorize and regulate importation, manufacture, 
and sale of said liquors and drugs for medicinal, sacramental, indus¬ 
trial, and scientific uses only. The penalty for violations of this pro¬ 
vision with reference to intoxicants shall be a fine of not less than $25 
for the first offense, and for second and subsequent offenses a fine of 
not less than $50 and imprisonment for not less than one month or 
more than one year: A fid provided further, That at any general elec¬ 
tion within five years after the approval of this Act this provision 
may, upon petition of not less than ten per centum of the qualified 
electors of Porto Rico, be submitted to a vote of the qualified electors 
of Porto Rico, and if a majority of all the qualified electors of Porto 
Rico voting upon such question shall vote to repeal this provision, 
it shall thereafter not be in force and effect; otherwise it shall be in 
full force and effect. 

That no money shall be paid out of the treasury except in pursuance 
of an appropriation by law, and on warrant drawn by the proper 
officer in pursuance thereof. 

That the rule of taxation in Porto Rico shall be uniform. 

That all money derived from any tax levied or assessed for a special 
purpose shall be treated as a special fund in the Treasury and paid 


APPENDIX VIII 


171 

out for such purpose only except upon the approval of the President 
of the United States. 

That eight hours shall constitute a day’s work in all cases of em¬ 
ployment of laborers and mechanics by and on behalf of the gov¬ 
ernment of the island on public works, except in cases of emergency. 

That the employment of children under the age of fourteen years in 
any occupation injurious to health or morals or hazardous to life or 
limb is hereby prohibited. 

Section 3. That no export duties shall be levied or collected on 
exports from Porto Rico, but taxes and assessments on property, in¬ 
ternal revenue, and license fees, and royalties for franchises, privi¬ 
leges, and concessions may be imposed for the purposes of the insular 
and municipal governments, respectively, as may be provided and 
defined by the Legislature of Porto Rico; and when necessary to 
anticipate taxes and revenues, bonds and other obligations may be 
issued by Porto Rico or any municipal government therein as may be 
provided by law, and to protect the public credit: Provided, however , 
That no public indebtedness of Porto Rico or of any subdivision or 
municipality thereof shall be authorized or allowed in excess of seven 
per centum of the aggregate tax valuation of its property, and all 
bonds issued by the Government of Porto Rico, or by its authority, 
shall be exempt from taxation by the Government of the United 
States, or by the Government of Porto Rico or of any political or 
municipal subdivision thereof, or by any State, or by any county, 
municipality, or other municipal subdivision of any State or Territory 
of the United States, or by the District of Columbia. In computing 
the indebtedness of the people of Porto Rico, bonds issued by the 
people of Porto Rico, secured by an equivalent amount of bonds of 
municipal corporations or school boards of Porto Rico shall not be 
counted. 

Section 4. That the capital of Porto Rico shall be at the city of 
San Juan, and the seat of government shall be maintained there. 

Section 5. That all citizens of Porto Rico, as defined by section • 
seven of the Act of April twelfth, nineteen hundred, “temporarily to 
provide revenues and a civil government for Porto Rico, and for other 
purposes,” and all natives of Porto Rico who were temporarily absent 
from that island on April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety- 


172 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


nine, and have since returned and are permanently residing in that 
island, and are not citizens of any foreign country, are hereby de¬ 
clared, and shall be deemed and held to be, citizens of the United 
States: Provided, That any person hereinbefore described may retain 
his present political status by making a declaration, under oath, of 
his decision to do so within six months of the taking effect of this Act 
before the district court in the district in which he resides, the decla¬ 
ration to be in form as follows: 

“I, , being duly sworn, hereby declare my intention not 

to become a citizen of the United States as provided in the Act of 
Congress conferring United States citizenship upon citizens of Porto 
Rico and certain natives permanently residing in said island.” 

In the case of any such person who may be absent from the Island 
during said six months the term of this'proviso may be availed of by 
transmitting a declaration, under oath, in the form herein provided 
within six months of the taking effect of this Act to the executive 
secretary of Porto Rico: And provided further , That any person who 
is born in Porto Rico of an alien parent and is permanently residing 
in that island may, if of full age, within six months of the taking 
effect of this Act, or if a minor, upon reaching his majority or within 
one year thereafter, make a sworn declaration of allegiance to the 
United States before the United States District Court for Porto Rico, 
setting forth therein all the facts connected with his or her birth and 
residence in Porto Rico and accompanying due proof thereof, and 
from and after the making of such declaration shall be considered to 
be a citizen of the United States. 

Section 6. That all expenses that may be incurred on account of 
the Government of Porto Rico for salaries of officials and the conduct 
of their offices and departments, and all expenses and obligations 
contracted for the internal improvement or development of the 
island, not, however, including defenses, barracks, harbors, light¬ 
houses, buoys, and other works undertaken by the United States, 
shall, except as otherwise specifically provided by the Congress, be 
paid by the Treasurer of Porto Rico out of the revenue in his custody. 

Section 7. That all property which may have been acquired in 
Porto Rico by the United States under the cession of Spain in the 
treaty of peace entered into on the tenth day of December, eighteen 


APPENDIX VIII 


173 


hundred and ninety-eight, in any public bridges, road houses, water 
powers, highways, unnavigable streams and the beds thereof, sub¬ 
terranean waters, mines or minerals under the surface of private 
lands, all property which at the time of the cession belonged, under 
the laws of Spain then in force, to the various harbor works boards of 
Porto Rico, all the harbor shores, docks, slips, reclaimed lands, and 
all public lands and buildings not heretofore reserved by the United 
States for public purposes, is hereby placed under the control of the 
Government of Porto Rico, to be administered for the benefit of the 
people of Porto Rico; and the Legislature of Porto Rico shall have 
authority, subject to the limitations imposed upon all its acts, to 
legislate with respect to all such matters as it may deem advisable: 
Provided , That the President may from time to time, in his discretion, 
convey to the people of Porto Rico such lands, buildings, or interests 
in lands or other property now owned by‘the United States and within 
the territorial limits of Porto Rico as in his opinion are no longer 
needed for purposes of the United States. And he may from time to 
time accept by legislative grant from Porto Rico any lands, buildings, 
or other interests or property which may be needed for public pur¬ 
poses by the United States. 

Section 8. That the harbor areas and navigable streams and 
bodies of water and submerged lands underlying the same in and 
around the island of Porto Rico and the adjacent islands and waters, 
now owned by the United States and not reserved by the United 
States for public purposes, be, and the same are hereby, placed under 
the control of the Government of Porto Rico, to be administered in 
the same manner and subject to the same limitations as the property 
enumerated in the preceding section: Provided , That all laws of the 
United States for the protection and improvement of the navigable 
waters of the United States and the preservation of the interests of 
navigation and commerce, except so far as the same may be locally 
inapplicable, shall apply to said island and waters and to its adjacent 
islands and waters: Provided further, That nothing in this Act con¬ 
tained shall be construed so as to affect or impair in any manner the 
terms or conditions of any authorizations, permits, or other powers 
heretofore lawfully granted or exercised in or in respect of said waters 
and submerged lands in and surrounding said island and its adjacent 


174 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


islands by the Secretary of War or other authorized officer or agent 
of the United States: And provided further, That the Act of Congress 
approved June eleventh, nineteen hundred and six, entitled “An Act 
to empower the Secretary of War, under certain restrictions, to au¬ 
thorize the construction, extension, and maintenance of wharves, 
piers, and other structures on lands underlying harbor areas in navi¬ 
gable streams and bodies of water in or surrounding Porto Rico and 
the islands adjacent thereto,” and all other laws and parts of laws in 
conflict with this section be, and the same are hereby, repealed. 

Section 9. That the statutory laws of the United States not 
locally inapplicable, except as hereinbefore or hereinafter otherwise 
provided, shall have the same force and effect in Porto Rico as in the 
United States, except the internal-revenue laws: Provided, however, 
That hereafter all taxes collected under the internal-revenue laws of 
the United States on articled produced in Porto Rico and transported 
to the United States, or consumed in the island shall be covered into 
the treasury of Porto Rico. 

Section 10. That all judicial process shall run in the name of 
“United States of America, ss, the President of the United States,” 
and all penal or criminal prosecutions in the local courts shall be con¬ 
ducted in the name and by the authority of “The People of Porto 
Rico;” and all officials shall be citizens of the United States, and, 
before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take 
an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the laws 
of Porto Rico. 

Section ii. That all reports required by law to be made by the 
Governor or heads of departments to any official of the United States 
shall hereafter be made to an executive department of the Govern¬ 
ment of the United States to be designated by the President, and the 
President is hereby authorized to place all matters pertaining to the 
Government of Porto Rico in the jurisdiction of such department. 

executive department 

Section 12. That the supreme executive power shall be vested 
in an executive officer, whose official title shall be “The Governor of 
Porto Rico.” He shall be appointed by the President, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, and hold his office at the pleas- 


APPENDIX VIII 


i 7 S 


ure of the President and until his successor is chosen and qualified. 
The Governor shall reside in Porto Rico during his official incum¬ 
bency and maintain his office at the seat of government. He shall 
have general supervision and control of all the departments and 
bureaus of the Government in Porto Rico, so far as is not inconsistent 
with the provisions of this Act, and shall be commander-in-chief of the 
militia. He may grant pardons and reprieves and remit fines and 
forfeitures for offenses against the laws of Porto Rico, and respites 
for all offenses against the laws of the United States until the decision 
of the President can be ascertained, and may veto any legislation 
enacted as hereinafter provided. He shall commission all officers that 
he may be authorized to appoint. He shall be responsible for the 
faithful execution of the laws of Porto Rico and of the United States 
applicable in Porto Rico, and whenever it becomes necessary he may 
call upon the commanders of the military and naval forces of the 
United States in the Island, or summon the posse comitatus, or call 
out the militia to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion, in¬ 
surrection, or rebellion, and he may, in case of rebellion or invasion, 
or imminent danger thereof, when the public safety requires it, sus¬ 
pend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or place the Island, or 
any part thereof, under martial law until communication can be had 
with the President and the President’s decision therein made known. 
He shall annually, and at such other times as he may be required, 
make official report of the transactions of the Government of Porto 
Rico to the executive department of the Government of the United 
States to be designated by the President as herein provided, and his 
said annual report shall be transmitted to Congress, and he shall per¬ 
form such additional duties and functions as may in pursuance of law 
be delegated to him by the President. 

Section 13. That the following executive departments are hereby 
created: A Department of Justice, the head of which shall be desig¬ 
nated as the Attorney General; a Department of Finance, the head 
of which shall be designated as the Treasurer; a Department of the 
Interior, the head of which shall be designated as the Commissioner 
of the Interior; a Department of Education, the head of which shall 
be designated as the Commissioner of Education; a Department of 
Agriculture and Labor, the head of which shall be designated as the 


176 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor; and a Department of 
Health, the head of which shall be.designated as the Commissioner of 
Health. The Attorney General and Commissioner of Education shall 
be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate of the United States, to hold office for four years and until 
their successors are appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed 
by the President. The heads of the four remaining departments shall 
be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate of Porto Rico. The heads of departments appointed by 
the Governor shall hold office for the term of four years and until 
their successors are appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed 
by the Governor. 

Heads of departments shall reside in Porto Rico during their official 
incumbency, and those appointed by the Governor shall have resided 
in Porto Rico for at least one year prior to their appointment. 

The heads of departments shall collectively form a council to the 
Governor, known as the Executive Council. They shall perform 
under the general supervision of the Governor the duties hereinafter 
prescribed, or which may hereafter be prescribed by law and such 
other duties, not inconsistent with law, as the Governor, with the 
approval of the President, may assign to them; and they shall make 
annual and such other reports to the Governor as he may require, 
which shall be transmitted to the executive department of the Gov¬ 
ernment of the United States to be designated by the President as 
herein provided: Provided, That the duties herein imposed upon the 
heads of departments shall not carry with them any additional 
compensation. 

Section 14. That the Attorney General shall have charge of the 
administration of justice in Porto Rico; he shall be the legal adviser 
of the Governor and the heads of departments and shall be responsi¬ 
ble for the proper representation of the people of Porto Rico or its 
duly constituted officers in all actions and proceedings, civil or crimi¬ 
nal, in the Supreme Court of Porto Rico in which the people of Porto 
Rico shall be interested or a party, and he may, if directed by the 
Governor or if in his judgment the public interest requires it, repre¬ 
sent the people of Porto Rico or its duly constituted officers in any 
other court or before any other officer or board in any action or pro- 


APPENDIX VIII 177 

ceeding, civil or criminal, in which the people of Porto Rico may be a 
party or be interested. He shall also perform such other duties not 
inconsistent herewith as may be prescribed by law. 

Section 15. That the Treasurer shall give bond, approved as to 
form by the Attorney General of Porto Rico, in such sum as the 
Legislature may require, not less, however, than the sum of $125,000, 
with surety or sureties approved by the Governor, and he shall collect 
and be the custodian of public funds, and shall disburse the same in 
accordance with law, on warrants signed by the Auditor and counter¬ 
signed by the Governor, and perform such other duties as may be 
provided by law. He may designate banking institutions in Porto 
Rico and the United States as depositaries of the government of 
Porto Rico, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the 
Governor, after they have filed with him satisfactory evidence of their 
sound financial condition and have deposited bonds of .the United 
States or of the Government of Porto Rico or other security satis¬ 
factory to the Governor in such amounts as may be indicated by him; 
and no banking institution shall be designated a depositary of the 
Government of Porto Rico until the foregoing conditions have been 
complied with. Interest on deposits shall be required and paid into 
the treasury. 

Section 16. That the Commissioner of the Interior shall super¬ 
intend all works of a public nature, have charge of all public build¬ 
ings, grounds, and lands, except those belonging to the United States, 
and shall execute such requirements as may be imposed by law with 
respect thereto, and perform such other duties as may be prescribed 
by law. 

Section 17. That the Commissioner of Education shall superin¬ 
tend public instruction throughout Porto Rico; all proposed disburse¬ 
ments on account thereof must be approved by him, and all courses 
of study shall be prepared by him, subject to disapproval by the Gov¬ 
ernor if he desires to act. He shall prepare rules governing the selec¬ 
tion of teachers, and appointments of teachers by local school boards 
shall be subject to his approval, and he shall perform such other 
duties, not inconsistent with this Act, as may be prescribed by law. 

Section 18. That the Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor shall 
have general charge of such burea-us and branches of the Govern- 


x 7 8 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


ment as have Deen or shall be legally constituted for the study, ad¬ 
vancement, and benefit of agricultural and other industries, the chief 
purpose of this department being to foster, promote, and develop the 
agricultural interests and the welfare of the wage earners of Porto 
Rico, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their 
opportunities for profitable employment, and shall perform such 
other duties as may be prescribed by law. 

Section 19. That the Commissioner of Health shall have general 
charge of all matters relating to public health, sanitation, and chari¬ 
ties, except such as relate to the conduct of maritime quarantine, and 
shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law. 

Section 20. That there shall be appointed by the President an 
Auditor, at an annual salary of $5,000, for a term of four years and 
until his successor is appointed and qualified, who shall examine, 
audit, and settle all accounts pertaining to the revenues and receipts, 
from whatever source, of the Government of Porto Rico and of the 
municipal governments of Porto Rico, including public trust funds 
and funds derived from bond issues; and audit, in accordance with 
law and administrative regulations, all expenditures of funds or prop¬ 
erty pertaining to or held in trust by the Government of Porto Rico 
or the municipalities or dependencies thereof. He shall perform a 
like duty with respect to all government branches. 

He shall keep the general accounts of the Government and preserve 
the vouchers pertaining thereto. 

It shall be the duty of the Auditor to bring to the attention of the 
proper administrative officer expenditures of funds or property which, 
in his opinion, are irregular, unnecessary, excessive, or extravagant. 

In case of vacancy or of the absence from duty, from any cause, of 
the Auditor, the Governor of Porto Rico may designate an assistant, 
who shall have charge of the office. 

The jurisdiction of the Auditor over accounts, whether of funds or 
property, and all vouchers and records pertaining thereto, shall be 
exclusive. With the approval of the Governor, he shall from time to 
time make and promulgate general or special rules and regulations 
not inconsistent with law covering the methods of accounting for 
public funds and property, and funds and property held in trust by 
the Government or any of its branches: Provided , That any officer 


APPENDIX VIII 


179 


accountable for public funds or property may require such additional 
reports or returns from his subordinates or others as he may deem 
necessary for his own information and protection. 

The decisions of the Auditor shall be final, except that appeal there¬ 
from may be taken by the party aggrieved or the head of the depart¬ 
ment concerned within one year, in the manner hereinafter prescribed. 
The Auditor shall, except as hereinafter provided, have like authority 
as that conferred by the law upon the several Auditors of the United 
States and the Comptroller of the United States Treasury, and is 
authorized to communicate directly with any person having claims 
before him for settlement, or with any department, officer, or person 
having official relations with his office. 

As soon after the close of each fiscal year as the accounts of said 
year may be examined and adjusted, the Auditor shall submit to the 
Governor an annual report of the fiscal concerns of the Government, 
showing the receipts and disbursements of the various departments 
and bureaus of the Government and of the various municipalities, 
and make such other reports as may be required of him by the Gov¬ 
ernor or the head of the executive department of the Government of 
the United States, to be designated by the President as herein pro¬ 
vided. 

In the execution of his duties the Auditor is authorized to summon 
witnesses, administer oaths, and to take evidence, and, in the pur¬ 
suance of these provisions, may issue subpoenas and enforce the 
attendance of witnesses. 

The office of the Auditor shall be under the general supervision of 
the Governor and shall consist of the auditor and such necessary 
assistants as may be prescribed by law. 

Section 21. That any person aggrieved by the action or decision 
of the Auditor in the settlement of his account or claim may, within 
one year, take an appeal in writing to the Governor, which appeal 
shall specifically set forth the particular action of the Auditor to 
which exception is taken, with the reason and authorities relied on 
for reversing such decision. The decision of the Governor in such 
case shall be final, subject to such right of action as may be otherwise 
provided by law. 

Section 22. That there shall be appointed by the Governor, by 


i8o 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


and with the advice and consent of the Senate of Porto Rico, an 
Executive Secretary at an annual salary of $4,000, who shall record 
and preserve the minutes and proceedings of the public service com¬ 
mission hereinafter provided for and the laws enacted by the Legisla¬ 
ture and all acts and proceedings of the Governor, and promulgate all 
proclamations and orders of the Governor and all laws enacted by the 
Legislature, and until otherwise provided by the Legislature of Porto 
Rico perform all the duties of Secretary of Porto Rico as now pro¬ 
vided by law, except as otherwise specified in this Act, and perform 
such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Governor of 
Porto Rico. In the event of a vacancy in the office, or the absence, 
illness, or temporary disqualification of such officer, the Governor 
shall designate some officer or employee of the Government to dis¬ 
charge the functions of Said office during such vacancy, absence, 
illness, or temporary disqualification. 

Section 23. That the Governor of Porto Rico, within sixty days 
after the end of each session of the Legislature, shall transmit to the 
executive department of the Government of the United States, to be 
designated as herein provided for, which shall in turn transmit the 
same to the Congress of the United States, copies of all laws enacted 
during the session. 

Section 24. That the President may from time to time designate 
the head of an executive department of Porto Rico to act as Governor 
in the case of a vacancy, the temporary removal, resignation, or dis¬ 
ability of the Governor, or his temporary absence, and the head of 
the department thus designated shall exercise all the powers and per¬ 
form all the duties of the Governor during such vacancy, disability, 
or absence. 


LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 

Section 25. That all local legislative powers in Porto Rico, ex¬ 
cept as herein otherwise provided, shall be vested in a Legislature 
which shall consist of two houses, one the Senate and the other the 
House of Representatives, and the two houses shall be designated 
“the Legislature of Porto Rico.” 

Section 26. That the Senate of Porto Rico shall consist of nine¬ 
teen members elected for terms of four years by the qualified electors 


APPENDIX VIII 


181 


of Porto Rico. Each of the seven senatorial districts defined as here¬ 
inafter provided shall have the right to elect two senators, and in 
addition thereto there shall be elected five senators at large. No per¬ 
son shall be a member of the Senate of Porto Rico who is not over 
thirty years of age, and who is not able to read and write either the 
Spanish or English language, and who has not been a resident of 
Porto Rico for at least two consecutive years, and, except in the case 
of Senators at large, an actual resident of the senatorial district from 
which chosen for a period of at least one year prior to his election. 
Except as herein otherwise provided, the Senate of Porto Rico shall 
exercise all of the purely legislative powers and functions heretofore 
exercised by the Executive Council, including confirmation of ap¬ 
pointments; but appointments made while the Senate is not in ses¬ 
sion shall be effective either until disapproved or until the next ad¬ 
journment of the Senate for the session. In electing the five Senators 
at large each elector shall be permitted to vote for but one candidate, 
and the five candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be 
declared elected. 

Section 27. That the House of Representatives of Porto Rico 
shall consist of thirty-nine members elected quadrennially by the 
qualified electors of Porto Rico, as hereinafter provided. Each of the 
representative districts hereinafter provided for shall have the right 
to elect one Representative, and in addition thereto there shall be 
elected four Representatives at large. No person shall be a member 
of the House of Representatives who is not over twenty-five years of 
age, and who is not able to read and write either the Spanish or Eng¬ 
lish language, except in the case of a Representative at large, who has 
not been a bona fide resident of the district from which elected for at 
least one year prior to his election. In electing the four Representa¬ 
tives at large, each elector shall be permitted to vote for but one can¬ 
didate and the four candidates receiving the largest number of votes 
shall be elected. 

Section 28. That for the purpose of elections hereafter to the 
Legislature the Island of Porto Rico shall be divided into thirty-five 
representative districts, composed of contiguous and compact terri¬ 
tory and established, so far as practicable, upon the basis of equal 
population. The division into and the demarcation of such districts 


182 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


shall be made by the Executive Council of Porto Rico. Division of 
districts shall be made as nearly as practicable to conform to the 
topographical nature of the land, with regard to roads and other 
means of communication and to natural barriers. Said Executive 
Council shall also divide the Island of Porto Rico into seven sena¬ 
torial districts, each composed of five contiguous and compact repre¬ 
sentative districts. They shall make their report within thirty days 
after the approval of this Act, which report, when approved by the 
Governor, shall be final. 

Section 29. That the next election in Porto Rico shall be held in 
the year nineteen hundred and seventeen upon the sixteenth day of 
July. At such election there shall be chosen Senators, Representa¬ 
tives, a Resident Commissioner to the United States, and two Public 
Service Commissioners, as herein provided. Thereafter the elections 
shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 
beginning with the year nineteen hundred and twenty, and every four 
years thereafter, and the terms of office of all municipal officials who 
have heretofore been elected and whose terms would otherwise expire 
at the beginning of the year nineteen hundred and nineteen are hereby 
extended until the officials who may be elected to fill such offices in 
nineteen hundred and twenty shall have been duly qualified: Pro¬ 
vided, however, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to 
limit the right of the Legislature of Porto Rico at any time to revise 
the boundaries of senatorial and representative districts and of any 
municipality, or to abolish any municipality and the officers pro¬ 
vided therefor. 

Section 30. That the term of office of Senators and Representa¬ 
tives chosen by the first general election shall be until January first, 
nineteen hundred and twenty-one, and the terms of office of Senators 
and Representatives chosen at subsequent elections shall be four 
years from the second of January following their election. In case of 
vacancy among the members of the Senate or in the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, special elections may be held in the districts wherein such 
vacancy occurred, under such regulations as may be prescribed by 
law, but Senators or Representatives elected in such cases shall hold 
office only for the unexpired portion of the term wherein the vacancy 
occurred, and no Senator or Representative shall, during the time for 


APPENDIX VIII 


183 


which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office 
under the Government of Porto Rico, nor be appointed to any office 
created by Act of the Legislature during the time for which he shall 
have been elected until two years after his term of office shall have 
expired. 

Section 31. That members of the Senate and House of Repre¬ 
sentatives of Porto Rico shall receive compensation at the rate of $7 
per day for the first ninety days of each regular session and $1 per day 
for each additional day of such session while in session, and mileage 
for each session at the rate of 10 cents per kilometer for each kilo¬ 
meter actually and necessarily traveled in going from their legislative 
districts to the capital and therefrom to their place of residence in 
their districts by the usual routes of travel. 

Section 32. That the Senate and House of Representatives, re¬ 
spectively, shall be the sole judges of the elections, returns, and quali¬ 
fications of their members, and they shall have and exercise all the 
powers with respect to the conduct of their proceedings that usually 
pertain to parliamentary legislative bodies. Both houses shall con¬ 
vene at the capital on the second Monday in February following the 
next election, and organize by the election of a Speaker or a Presiding 
Officer, a Clerk, and a Sergeant at arms for each house, and such 
other officers and assistants as may be required. 

Section 33. That the first regular session of the Legislature of 
Porto Rico, provided for by this Act, shall convene on the twenty- 
eighth day after the first election provided for herein, and regular ses¬ 
sions of the Legislature shall be held biennially thereafter, convening 
on the second Monday in February of the year nineteen hundred and 
nineteen, and on the second Monday in February of each second year 
thereafter. The Governor may call special sessions of the Legislature 
or of the Senate at any time when in his opinion the public interest 
may require it, but no special session shall continue longer than ten 
days, not including Sundays and holidays, and no legislation shall be 
considered at such session other than that specified in the call, and he 
shall call the Senate in special session at least once each year on the 
second Monday in February of those years in which a regular session 
of the Legislature is not provided for. 

Section 34. That the enacting clause of the laws shall be as to 


184 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


acts, “Be it enacted by the Legislature of Porto Rico,” and as to joint 
resolutions, “Be it resolved by the Legislature of Porto Rico.” Ex¬ 
cept as hereinafter provided, bills and joint resolutions may originate 
in either house. The Governor shall submit at the opening of each 
regular session of the Legislature a budget of receipts and expendi¬ 
tures, which shall be the basis of the ensuing biennial appropriation 
bill. No bill shall become a law until it be passed in each house by a 
majority yea-and-nay vote of all of the members belonging to such 
house and entered upon the journal and be approved by the Governor 
within ten days thereafter. If when a bill that has been passed is 
presented to the Governor for his signature he approves the same, he 
shall sign it; or if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the 
house in which it originated, which house shall enter his objections at 
large on its journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such recon¬ 
sideration, two-thirds of all the members of that house shall agree to 
pass the same it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if ap¬ 
proved by two-thirds of all the members of that house it shall be sent 
to the Governor, who, in case he shall then not approve, shall trans¬ 
mit the same to the President of the United States. The vote of each 
house shall be by yeas and nays, and the names of the members vot¬ 
ing for and against shall be entered on the journal. If the President 
of the United States approve the same he shall sign it and it shall 
become a law. If he shall not approve same he shall return it to the 
Governor so stating, and it shall not become a law: Provided , That 
the President of the United States shall approve or disapprove an 
Act submitted to him under the provisions of this section within 
ninety days from and after its submission for his approval; and if not 
approved within such time it shall become a law the same as if it had 
been specifically approved. If any bill presented to the Governor 
contains several items of appropriation of money, he may object to 
one or more of such items, or any part or parts, portion or portions 
thereof, while approving of the other portion of the bill. In such case 
he shall append to the bill, at the time of signing it, a statement of the 
items, parts or portions thereof to which he objects, and the appro¬ 
priation so objected to shall not take effect. It any bill shall not be 
returned by the Governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after 


APPENDIX VIII 


i8 5 

it shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law in like manner as 
if he had signed it, unless the Legislature by adjournment prevents 
its return, in which case it shall be a law if signed by the Governor 
within thirty days after receipt by him; otherwise it shall not be a 
law. All laws enacted by the Legislature of Porto Rico sha l l be re¬ 
ported to the Congress of the United States, as provided in section 
twenty-three of this Act, which hereby reserves the power and au¬ 
thority to annul the same. If at the termination of any fiscal year the 
appropriations necessary for the support of the Government for the 
ensuing fiscal year shall not have been made, the several sums appro¬ 
priated in the last appropriation bills for the objects and purposes 
therein specified, so far as the same may be applicable, shall be 
deemed to be reappropriated item by item; and until the Legislature 
shall act in such behalf the Treasurer may, with the advice of the 
Governor, make the payments necessary for the purposes aforesaid. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and may, in its 
discretion, from time to time, publish the same, and the yeas and nays 
on any question shall, on the demand of one-fifth of the members 
present, be entered on the journal. 

The sessions of each house and of the committees of the whole shall 
be open. 

Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for 
more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the 
two houses shall be sitting. 

No law shall be passed except by bill, and no bill shall be so altered 
or amended on its passage through either house as to change its origi¬ 
nal purpose. 

No act of the Legislature except the general appropriation bills for 
the expenses of the Government shall take effect until ninety days 
after its passage, unless in case of emergency (which shall be expressed 
in the preamble or body of the act) the Legislature shall by a vote of 
two-thirds of all the members elected to each house otherwise direct. 
No bill, except the general appropriation bill for the expenses of the 
Government only, introduced in either house of the Legislature after 
the first forty days of the session, shall become a law. 

No bill shall be considered or become a law unless referred to a 
committee, returned therefrom, and printed for the use of the mem- 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


186 

bers: Provided , That either house may by a majority vote discharge 
a committee from the consideration of a measure and bring it before 
the body for consideration. 

No bill, except general appropriation bills, shall be passed contain¬ 
ing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title; 
but if any subject shall be embraced in any act which shall not be ex¬ 
pressed in the title, such act shall be void as to so much thereof as 
shall not be so expressed. 

No law shall be revived, or amended, or the provisions thereof ex¬ 
tended or conferred by reference to its title only, but so much thereof 
as is revived, amended, extended, or conferred shall be reenacted and 
published at length. 

The presiding officer of each house shall, in the presence of the 
house over which he presides, sign all bills and joint resolutions passed 
by the Legislature, after their titles shall have been publicly read, im¬ 
mediately before signing; and the fact of signing shall be entered on 
the journal. 

The Legislature shall prescribe by law the number, duties, and 
compensation of the officers and employees of each house; and no 
payment shall be made for services to the Legislature from the treas¬ 
ury, or be in any way authorized to any person, except to an acting 
officer or employee elected or appointed in pursuance of law. 

No bill shall be passed giving any extra compensation to any public 
officer, servant or employee, agent or contractor, after services shall 
have been rendered or contract made. 

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, no law shall extend the 
term of any public officer, or increase or diminish his salary or emolu¬ 
ments after his election or appointment, nor permit any officer or 
employee to draw compensation for more than one office or position. 

All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, 
as in case of other bills. 

The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing but appro¬ 
priations for the ordinary expenses of the executive, legislative, and 
judicial departments, interest on the public debt, and for public 
schools. All other appropriations shall be made by separate bills, 
each embracing but one subject. 


APPENDIX VIII 


187 


Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of both 
houses may be necessary, except on the question of adjournment, or 
relating solely to the transaction of business of the two houses, shall 
be presented to the Governor, and before it shall take effect be ap¬ 
proved by him, or, being disapproved, shall be repassed by two- 
thirds of both houses, according to the rules and limitations pre¬ 
scribed in case of a bill. 

Any person who shall, directly or indirectly, offer, give, or promise 
any money or thing of value, testimonial, privilege, or personal ad¬ 
vantage to any executive or judicial officer or member of the Legisla¬ 
ture to influence him in the performance of any of his public or official 
duties, shall be deemed guilty of bribery, and be punished by a fine 
not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment not exceeding five years, or 
both. 

The offense of corrupt solicitation of members of the Legislature, 
or of public officers of Porto Rico, or of any municipal division thereof, 
and any occupation or practice of solicitation of such members or 
officers to influence their official action, shall be defined by law, and 
shall be punished by fine and imprisonment. 

In case the available revenues of Porto Rico for any fiscal year, 
including available surplus in the Insular Treasury, are insufficient 
to meet all the appropriations made by the Legislature for such year, 
such appropriations shall l^e paid in the following order, unless other¬ 
wise directed by the Governor: 

First class. The ordinary expenses of the legislative, executive, 
and judicial departments of the State Government, and interest on 
any public debt, shall first be paid in full. 

Second class. Appropriations for all institutions, such as the peni¬ 
tentiary, insane asylum, industrial school, and the like, where the 
inmates are confined involuntarily, shall next be paid in full. 

Third class. Appropriations for education and educational and 
charitable institutions shall next be paid in full. 

Fourth class. Appropriations for any other officer or officers, 
bureaus or boards, shall next be paid in full. 

Fifth class. Appropriations for all other purposes shall next be 
paid. 

That in case there are not sufficient revenues for any fiscal year. 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


188 

including available surplus in the Insular Treasury, to meet in full the 
appropriations of said year for all of the said classes of appropriations, 
then said revenues shall be applied to the classes in the order above 
named, and if, after the payment of the prior classes in full, there are 
not sufficient revenues for any fiscal year to pay in full the appropria¬ 
tions for that year for the next class, then, in that event, whatever 
there may be to apply on account of appropriations for said class shall 
be distributed among said appropriations pro rata according as the 
amount of each appropriation of that class shall bear to the total 
amount of all of said appropriations for that class for such fiscal 
year. 

No appropriation shall be made, nor any expenditure authorized 
by the legislature, whereby the expenditure of the Government of 
Porto Rico during any fiscal year shall exceed the total revenue then 
provided for by law and applicable for such appropriation or expendi¬ 
ture, including any available surplus in the treasury, unless the Legis¬ 
lature making such appropriation shall provide for levying a sufficient 
tax to pay such appropriation or expenditure within such fiscal year. 

Section 35. That at the first election held pursuant to this Act 
the qualified electors shall be those having the qualifications of voters 
under the present law. Thereafter voters shall be citizens of the 
United States twenty-one years of age or over and have such addi¬ 
tional qualifications as may be prescribed t^y the Legislature of Porto 
Rico: Provided, That no property qualification shall ever be imposed 
upon or required of any voter. 

Section 36. That the qualified electors of Porto Rico shall at the 
next general election choose a Resident Commissioner to the United 
States, whose term of office shall begin on the date of the issuance of 
his certificate of election and shall continue until the fourth of March, 
nineteen hundred and twenty-one. At each subsequent election, 
beginning with the year nineteen hundred and twenty, the qualified 
electors of Porto Rico shall choose a Resident Commissioner to the 
United States, whose term of office shall be four years from the fourth 
of March following such general election, and who shall be entitled 
to receive official recognition as such Commissioner by all of the de¬ 
partments of the Government of the United States, upon presenta¬ 
tion, through the Department of State, of a certificate of election of 


APPENDIX VIII 


189 


the Governor of Porto Rico. The Resident Commissioner shall re¬ 
ceive a salary, payable monthly by the United States, of $7,500 per 
annum. Such Commissioner shall be allowed the same sum for sta¬ 
tionery and for the pay of necessary clerk hire as is now allowed to 
members of the House of Representatives of the United States; and 
he shall be allowed the sum of $500 as mileage for each session of the 
House of Representatives and the franking privilege granted members 
of Congress. No person shall be eligible to election as Resident Com¬ 
missioner who is not a bona fide citizen of the United States and who 
is not more than twenty-five years of age, and who does not read and 
write the English language. In case of a vacancy in the office of 
Resident Commissioner by death, resignation, or otherwise, the 
Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall 
appoint a Resident Commissioner to fill the vacancy, who shall serve 
until the next general election and until his successor is elected and 
qualified. 

Section 37. That the legislative authority herein provided shall 
extend to all matters of a legislative character not locally inapplica¬ 
ble, including power to create, consolidate, and reorganize the munic¬ 
ipalities so far as may be necessary, and to provide and repeal laws 
and ordinances therefor; also the power to alter, amend, modify, or 
repeal any or all laws and ordinances of every character now in force 
in Porto Rico or municipality or district thereof in so far as such 
alteration, amendment, modification, or repeal may be consistent 
with the provisions of this Act. 

No executive department not provided for in this Act shall be 
created by the Legislature, but the Legislature may consolidate de¬ 
partments, or abolish any department, with the consent of the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States. 

Section 38. That all grants of franchises, rights, and privileges 
of a public or quasi public nature shall be made by a Public Service 
Commission, consisting of the heads of executive departments, the 
Auditor, and two commissioners to be elected by the qualified voters 
d.i the first general election to be held under this Act, and at each sub¬ 
sequent general election thereafter. The terms of said elective com¬ 
missioners elected at the first general election shall commence on the 
twenty-eighth day following the said general election, and the terms 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


190 

of the said elective commissioners elected at each subsequent general 
election shall commence on the second day of January following their 
election; they shall serve for four years and until their successors are 
elected and qualified. Their compensation shall be $8 for each day’s 
attendance on the sessions of the commission, butin no case shall they 
receive more than $400 each during any one year. The said commis¬ 
sion is also empowered and directed to discharge all the executive 
functions relating to public service corporations heretofore conferred 
by law upon the Executive Council. Franchises, rights, and privi¬ 
leges granted by the said Commission shall not be effective until ap¬ 
proved by the Governor, and shall be reported to Congress, which 
hereby reserves the power to annul or modify the same. 

The interstate-commerce Act and the several amendments made or 
to be made thereto, the safety-appliance Acts and the several amend¬ 
ments made or to be made thereto, and the Act of Congress entitled 
“An Act to amend an Act entitled ‘An Act to regulate commerce,’ 
approved February fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and 
all Acts amendatory thereof, by providing for a valuation of the sev¬ 
eral classes of property of carriers subject thereto and securing infor¬ 
mation concerning their stocks, bonds, and other securities,” ap¬ 
proved March first, nineteen hundred and thirteen, shall not apply to 
Porto Rico. 

The Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico is hereby authorized to 
enact laws relating to the regulation of the rates, tariffs, and service 
of public carriers by rail in Porto Rico, and the Public Service Com¬ 
mission hereby created shall have power to enforce such laws under 
appropriate regulation. 

Section 39. That all grants of franchises and privileges under the 
section last preceding shall provide that the same shall be subject to 
amendment, alteration, or repeal, and shall forbid the issue of stocks 
or bonds except in exchange for actual cash or property at a fair valua¬ 
tion to be determined by the Public Service Commission equal in 
amount to the par value of the stocks or bonds issued, and shall for¬ 
bid the declaring of stock or bond dividends, and in the case of public 
service corporations shall provide for the effective regulation of 
charges thereof and for the purchase or taking of their property by 
the authorities at a fair and reasonable valuation. 


APPENDIX VIII 


191 


That nothing in this Act contained shall be so construed as to abro¬ 
gate or in any manner impair or affect the provision contained in 
section three of the joint resolution approved May first, nineteen 
hundred, with respect to the buying, selling, or holding of real estate. 
That the Governor of Porto Rico shall cause to have made and sub¬ 
mitted to Congress at the session beginning the first Monday in 
December, nineteen hundred and seventeen, a report of all the real 
estate used for the purposes of agriculture and held either directly or 
indirectly by corporations, partnerships, or individuals in holdings 
in excess of five hundred acres. 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 

Section 40. That the judicial power shall be vested in the courts 
and tribunals of Porto Rico now established and in operation under 
and by virtue of existing laws. The jurisdiction of said courts and the 
form of procedure in them, and the various officers and attaches 
thereof, shall also ontinue to be as now provided until otherwise 
provided by law: Provided , however, That the Chief Justice and Asso¬ 
ciate Justices of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the Presi¬ 
dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United 
States, and the Legislature of Porto Rico shall have authority, from 
time to time as it may see fit, not inconsistent with this Act, to organ¬ 
ize, modify, or rearrange the courts and their jurisdiction and pro¬ 
cedure, except the District Court of the United States for Porto Rico. 

Section 41. That Porto Rico shall constitute a judicial district 
to be called “the District of Porto Rico.” The President, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint one District 
Judge, who shall serve for a term of four years and until his successor 
is appointed and qualified and whose salary shall be $5,000 per 
annum. There shall be appointed in like manner a District Attorney, 
whose salary shall be $4,000 per annum, and a Marshal for said dis¬ 
trict, whose salary shall be $3,500 per annum, each for a term of four 
years unless sooner removed by the President. The district Court for 
said district shall be called “the District Court of the United States 
foi Porto Rico,” and shall have power to appoint all necessary officials 
and assistants, including the Clerk, Interpreter, and such commis- 


192 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


sioners as may be necessary, who shall be entitled to the same fees 
and have like powers and duties as are exercised and performed by 
United States commissioners. Such district court shall have jurisdic¬ 
tion of all cases cognizable in the district courts of the United States, 
and shall proceed in the same manner. In addition said district court 
shall have jurisdiction for the naturalization of aliens and Porto 
Ricans, and for this purpose residence in Porto Rico shall be counted 
in the same manner as residence elsewhere in the United States. Said 
district court shall have jurisdiction of all controversies where ali of 
the parties on either side of the controversy are citizens or subjects of 
a foreign State or States, or citizens of a State, Territory, or District 
of the United States not domiciled in Porto Rico, wherein the matter 
in dispute exceeds, exclusive of interest or cost, the sum or value of* 
$3,000, and of all controversies in which there is a separable contro¬ 
versy involving such jurisdictional amount and in which all of the 
parties on either side of such separable controversy are citizens or 
subjects of the character aforesaid: Provided, That nothing in this 
Act shall be deemed to impair the jurisdiction of the District Court 
of the United States for Porto Rico to hear and determine all contro¬ 
versies pending in said court at the date of the approval of this Act. 
Upon the taking effect of this Act the salaries of the Judge and officials 
of the District Court of the United States for Porto Rico, together 
with the court expenses, shall be paid from the United States reven¬ 
ues in the same manner as in other United States district courts. In 
case of vacancy or of the death, absence, or other legal disability on 
the part of the Judge of the said District Court of the United States 
for Porto Rico, the President of the United States is authorized to 
designate one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Porto Rico to 
discharge the duties of Judge of said court until such absence or dis¬ 
ability shall be removed, and thereupon such Judge so designated for 
said service shall be fully authorized and empowered to perform the 
duties of said office during such absence or disability of such regular 
Judge, and to sign all necessary papers and records as the acting 
Judge of said court, without extra compensation. 

Section 42. That the laws of the United States relating to ap¬ 
peals, writs of error and certiorari, removal of causes, and other 
matters or proceedings as between the courts of the United States and 


APPENDIX VIII 


193 


the courts of the several States shall govern in such matters and pro¬ 
ceedings as between the District Court of the United States and the 
courts of Porto Rico. Regular terms of said United States District 
Court shall be held at San Juan, commencing on the first Monday in 
May and November of each year, and also at Ponce on the second 
Monday in February of each year, and special terms may be held at 
Mayaguez at such stated times as said Judge may deem expedient. 
All pleadings and proceedings in said court shall be conducted in the 
English language. The said district court shall be attached to and 
included in the first circuit of the United States, with the right of 
appeal and review by said circuit court of appeals in all cases where 
the same would lie from any district court to a circuit court of appeals 
of the United States, and with the right of appeal and review directly 
by the Supreme Court of the United States in all cases where a direct 
appeal would be from such district courts. 

Section 43. That writs of error and appeals from the final judg¬ 
ments and decrees of the Supreme Court of Porto Rico may be taken 
and prosecuted to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit 
and to the Supreme Court of the United States, as now provided by 
law. 

Section 44. That the qualifications of jurors as fixed by the local 
laws of Porto Rico shall not apply to jurors selected to serve in the 
District Court of the United States for Porto Rico; but the qualifica¬ 
tions required of jurors in said court shall be that each shall be of the 
age of not less than twenty-one years and not over sixty-five years, a 
resident of Porto Rico for not less than one year, and have a sufficient 
knowledge of the English language to enable him to serve as a juror; 
they shall also be citizens of the United States. Juries for the said 
court shall be selected, drawn and subject to exemption in accordance 
with the laws of Congress regulating the same in the United States 
courts in so far as locally applicable. 

Section 45. That all such fees, fines, costs, and forfeitures as 
would be deposited to the credit of the United States if collected and 
paid into a district court of the United States shall become revenues 
of the United States when collected and paid into the District Court 
of the United States for Porto Rico: Provided, That $500 a year from 
such fees, fines, costs, and forfeitures shall be retained by the Clerk 


194 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


and expended for law library purposes under the direction of the 
Judge. 

Section 46. That the Attorney General of the United States 
shall from time to time determine the salaries of all officials and assist¬ 
ants appointed by the United States district court, including the 
Clerk, his deputies, Interpreter, Stenographer, and other officials and 
employees, the same to be paid by the United States as other salaries 
and expenses of like character in United States courts. 

Section 47. That jurors and witnesses in the District Court of 
the United States for Porto Rico shall be entitled to and receive 15 
cents for each mile necessarily traveled over any stage line or by 
private conveyance and 10 cents for each mile over any railway in 
going to and returning from said courts. But no constructive or 
double mileage fees shall be allowed by reason of any person being 
summoned both as witness and juror or as witness in two or more 
cases pending in the same court and triable at the same term thereof. 
Such jurors shall be paid $3 per day and such witnesses $1.50 per day 
while in attendance upon the court. 

Section 48. That the Supreme and District Courts of Porto Rico 
and the respective Judges thereof may grant writs of habeas corpus 
in all cases in which the same are grantable by the Judges of the Dis¬ 
trict Courts of the United States, and the District Courts may grant 
writs of mandamus in all proper cases. 

Section 49. That hereafter all Judges, Marshals, and Secretaries 
of courts now established or that may hereafter be established in 
Porto Rico, and whose appointment by the President is not provided 
for by law, shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the ad¬ 
vice and consent of the Senate of Porto Rico. 

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Section 50. That, except as in this Act otherwise provided, the 
salaries of all the officials of Porto Rico not appointed by the Presi¬ 
dent, including deputies, assistants, and other help, shall be such and 
be so paid out of the revenues of Porto Rico as shall from time to time 
be determined by the Legislature of Porto Rico and approved by the 
Governor; and if the Legislature shall fail to make an appropriation 
for such salaries, the salaries theretofore fixed shall be paid without 


APPENDIX VIII 


T 95 


the necessity of further appropriations therefor. The salaries of all 
officers and all expenses of the offices of the various officials of Porto 
Rico appointed as herein provided by the President shall also be paid 
out of the revenues of Porto Rico on warrant of the Auditor, counter¬ 
signed by the Governor. The annual salaries of the following-named 
officials appointed by the President and so to be paid shall be: The 
Governor, $10,000; in addition thereto he shall be entitled to the 
occupancy of the buildings heretofore used by the Chief Executive of 
Porto Rico, with the furniture and effects therein, free of rental; 
heads of executive departments, $5,000; Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court, $6,500; Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, $5,500 each. 

Where any officer whose salary is fixed by this act is required to 
give a bond, the premium thereof shall be paid from the Insular 
Treasury. 

Section 51. That the provisions of the foregoing section shall not 
apply to municipal officials; their salaries and the compensation of 
their deputies, assistants, and other help, as well as all other expenses 
incurred by the municipalities, shall be paid out of the municipal 
revenues, in such manner as the Legislature shall provide. 

Section 52. That wherever in this Act offices of the Insular 
Government of Porto Rico are provided for under the same names as 
in the heretofore existing Acts of Congress affecting Porto Rico, the 
present incumbents of those offices shall continue in office in accor¬ 
dance with the terms and at the salaries prescribed by this Act, except¬ 
ing the heads of those departments who are to be appointed by the 
Governor and who shall continue in office only until their succeessors 
are appointed and have qualified. The offices of Secretary of Porto 
Rico and Director of Labor, Charities, and Correction are hereby 
abolished. Authority is given to the respective appointing authori¬ 
ties to appoint and commission persons to fill the new offices created 
by this act. 

Section 53. That any bureau or office belonging to any of the 
regular departments of the Government, or hereafter created, or not 
assigned, may be transferred or assigned to any department by the 
Governor with the approval of the Senate of Porto Rico. 

Section 54. That deeds and other instruments affecting land 
situate in the District of Columbia, or any other territory or posses- 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


196 

sion of the United States, may be acknowledged in Porto Rico before 
any notary public appointed therein by proper authority, or any offi¬ 
cer therein wfio has ex officio the powers of a notary public: Provided , 
That the certificate by such notary shall be accompanied by the cer¬ 
tificate of the Executive Secretary of Porto Rico to the effect that the 
notary taking such acknowledgment is in fact such notarial officer. 

Section 55. That nothing in this Act shall be deemed to impair 
or interrupt the jurisdiction of existing courts over matters pending 
therein upon the approval of this Act, which jurisdiction is in all re¬ 
spects hereby continued, the purpose of this Act being to preserve the 
integrity of all of said courts and their jurisdiction until otherwise 
provided by law, except as in this Act otherwise specifically provided. 

Section 56. That this Act shall take effect upon approval, but 
until its provisions shall severally become operative, as hereinbefore 
provided, the corresponding legislative and executive functions of the 
Government in Porto Rico shall continue to be exercised and in full 
force and operation as now provided by law r ; and the Executive 
Council shall, until the assembly and organization of the Legislature 
of Porto Rico as herein provided, consist of the Attorney General, the 
Treasurer, the Commissioner of the Interior, the Commissioner of 
Education, the Commissioner of Health, and the Commissioner of 
Agriculture and Labor, and the five additional members as now pro¬ 
vided by law. And any functions assigned to the Senate of Porto 
Rico by the provisions of this Act shall, until this said Senate has 
assembled and organized as herein provided, be exercised by the Exec¬ 
utive Council as thus constituted: Provided , however, That all ap¬ 
pointments made by the Governor, by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the Executive Council as thus constituted, in the Executive 
Council as authorized by section thirteen of this Act or in the office 
of Executive Secretary of Porto Rico, shall be regarded as temporary 
and shall expire not later than twenty days from and after the assem¬ 
bly and organization of the Legislature hereinbefore provided, unless 
said appointments shall be ratified and made permanent by the said 
Senate of Porto Rico. 

Section 57. That the laws and ordinances of Porto Rico now in 
force shall continue in force and effect, except as altered, amended, or 
modified herein, until altered, amended, or repealed by the legislative 


APPENDIX VIII 


197 


authority herein provided for Porto Rico or by Act of Congress of the 
United States; and such legislative authority shall have power, when 
not inconsistent with this Act, by due enactment to amend, alter, 
modify, or repeal any law or ordinance, civil or criminal, continued in 
force by this Act as it may from time to time see fit. 

Section 58. That all laws or parts of laws applicable to Porto 
Rico not in conflict with any of the provisions of this Act, including 
the laws relating to tariffs, customs, and duties on importations into 
Porto Rico prescribed by the Act of Congress entitled “An Act tempo¬ 
rarily to provide revenues and a civil government for Porto Rico, and 
for other purposes,” approved April twelfth, nineteen hundred, are 
hereby continued in effect, and all laws and parts of laws inconsistent 
with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed. 


Approved, March 2 , 1917. 


APPENDIX IX 


THE FORAKER ACT 
AN ACT 

TEMPORARILY TO PROVIDE REVENUES AND A CIVIL GOVERNMENT FOR 
PORTO RICO, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled: 

That the provisions of this Act shall apply to the Island of Porto 
Rico and to the adjacent islands and waters of the islands lying east 
of the seventy-fourth meridian of longitude west of Greenwich, which 
were ceded to the United States by the Government of Spain by 
treaty entered into on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-eight; and the name Porto Rico, as used in this Act, shall 
be held to include not only the island of that name, but all the adja¬ 
cent islands as aforesaid. 

Section 2. That on and after the passage of this Act the same 
tariffs, customs, and duties shall be levied, collected, and paid upon 
all articles imported into Porto Rico from ports other than those of 
the United States which are required by law to be collected upon arti¬ 
cles imported into the United States from foreign countries: Provided , 
That on all coffee in the bean or ground imported into Porto Rico 
there shall be levied and collected a duty of five cents per pound, any 
law or part of law to the contrary notwithstanding: And provided 
further , That all Spanish scientific, literary, and artistic works, not 
subversive of public order in Porto Rico, shall be admitted free of 
duty into Porto Rico, for a period of ten years, reckoning from the 
eleventh day of April eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, as provided 
in said treaty of peace between the United States and Spain: And 
provided further , That all books and pamphlets printed in the English 

198 


APPENDIX IX 


199 


language shall be admitted into Porto Rico free of duty when im¬ 
ported from the United States. 

Section 3. That on and after the passage of this Act all merchan¬ 
dise coming into the United States from Porto Rico and coming into 
Porto Rico from the United States shall be entered at the several ports 
of entry upon payment of fifteen per centum of the duties which are 
required to be levied, collected, and paid upon like articles of mer¬ 
chandise imported from foreign countries; and in addition thereto 
upon articles of merchandise of Porto Rican manufacture coming into 
the United States and withdrawn for consumption or sale upon pay¬ 
ment of a tax equal to the internal-revenue tax imposed in the United 
States upon the like articles of merchandise of domestic manufacture; 
such tax to be paid by internal-revenue stamp or stamps to be pur¬ 
chased and provided by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and 
to be procured from the collector of internal revenue at or most con¬ 
venient to the port of entry of said merchandise in the United States, 
and to be affixed under such regulations as the Commissioner of In¬ 
ternal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
shall prescribe; and on all articles of merchandise of United States 
manufacture coming into Porto Rico in addition to the duty above 
provided upon payment of a tax equal in rate and amount to the 
internal-revenue tax imposed in Porto Rico upon the like articles of 
Porto Rican manufacture: Provided , That on and after the date when 
this Act shall take effect, all merchandise and articles, except coffee, 
not dutiable under the tariff laws of the United States, and all mer¬ 
chandise and articles entered into Porto Rico free of duty under or¬ 
ders heretofore made by the Secretary of War, shall be admitted into 
the several ports thereof, when imported from the United States, free 
of duty, all law r s or parts of laws to the contrary notwithstanding; 
and whenever the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico shall have 
enacted and put into operation a system of local taxation to meet the 
necessities of the government of Porto Rico, by this Act established, 
and shall by resolution duly passed so notify the President, he shall 
make proclamation thereof, and thereupon all tariff duties on mer¬ 
chandise and articles going into Porto Rico from the United States or 
coming into the United States from Porto Rico shall cease, and from 
and after such date all such merchandise and articles shall be entered 


200 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


at the several ports of entry free of duty; and in no event shall any 
duties be collected after the first day of March, nineteen hundred and 
two, on merchandise and articles going into Porto Rico from the 
United States or coming into the United States from Porto Rico. 

Section 4. That the duties and taxes collected in Porto Rico in 
pursuance of this Act, less the cost of collecting the same, and the 
gross amount of all collections of duties and taxes in the United States 
upon articles of merchandise coming from Porto Rico, shall not be 
covered into the general fund of the Treasury, but shall be held as a 
separate fund, and shall be placed at the disposal of the President to 
be used for the government and benefit of Porto Rico until the Gov¬ 
ernment of Porto Rico herein provided for shall have been organized, 
when all moneys theretofore collected under the provisions hereof, 
then unexpended, shall be transferred to the local Treasury of Porto 
Rico, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall designate the several 
ports and subports of entry in Porto Rico and shall make such rules 
and regulations and appoint such agents as may be necessary to col¬ 
lect the duties and taxes authorized to be levied, collected, and paid 
in Porto Rico by the provisions of this Act, and he shall fix the com¬ 
pensation and provide for the payment thereof of all such officers, 
agents, and assistants as he may find it necessary to employ to carry 
out the provisions hereof: Provided, however, That as soon as a civil 
government for Porto Rico shall have been organized in accordance 
with the provisions of this Act, and notice thereof shall have been 
given to the President he shall make proclamation thereof, and there¬ 
after all collections of duties and taxes in Porto Rico under the pro¬ 
visions of this Act shall be paid into the Treasury of Porto Rico, to be 
expended as required by law for the government and benefit thereof 
instead of being paid into the Treasury of the United States. 

Section 5. That on and after the day when this Act shall go into 
effect all goods, wares, and merchandise previously imported from 
Porto Rico, for which no entry has been made, and all goods, wares, 
and merchandise previously entered without payment of duty and 
under bond for warehousing, transportation, or any other purpose, 
for which no permit of delivery to the importer or his agent has been 
issued, shall be subjected to the duties imposed by this Act, and to no 
other duty, upon the entry or the withdrawal thereof: Provided, That 


APPENDIX IX 


2or 


when duties are based upon the weight of merchandise deposited in 
any public or private bonded warehouse said duties shall be levied and 
collected upon the weight of such merchandise at the time of its entry. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Section 6. That the capital of Porto Rico shall be at the city of 
San Juan and the seat of government shall be maintained there. 

Section 7. That all inhabitants continuing to reside therein who 
were Spanish subjects on the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-nine, and then resided in Porto Rico, and their children 
bom subsequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of 
Porto Rico, and as such entitled to the protection of the United 
States, except such as shall have elected to preserve their allegiance 
to the Crown of Spain on or before the eleventh day of April, nineteen 
hundred, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of peace 
between the United States and Spain entered into on the eleventh day 
of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine; and they, together with 
such citizens of the United States as may reside in Porto Rico, shall 
constitute a body politic under the name of The People of Porto Rico, 
with governmental powers as hereinafter conferred, and with power 
to sue and be sued as such. 

Section 8. That the laws and ordinances of Porto Rico now in 
force shall continue in full force and effect, except as altered, amended, 
or modified hereinafter, or as altered or modified by military orders 
and decrees in force when this Act shall take effect, and so far as the 
same are not inconsistent or in conflict with the statutory laws of the 
United States not locally inapplicable, or the provisions hereof, until 
altered, amended, or repealed by the legislative authority hereinafter 
provided for Porto Rico or by Act of Congress of the United States: 
Provided , that so much of the law which was in force at the time of 
cession, April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, forbidding 
the marriage of priests, ministers, or followers of any faith because of 
vows they may have taken, being paragraph four, article eighty-three, 
chapter three, civil code, and which was continued by the order of the 
Secretary of Justice of Porto Rico, dated March seventeenth, eighteen 
hundred and ninety-nine, and promulgated by Major General Guy V. 
Henry, United States Volunteers, is hereby repealed and annulled, 


202 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


and all persons lawfully married in Porto Rico shall have all the rights 
and remedies conferred by law upon parties to either civil or religious 
marriages: And provided further , That paragraph one, article one 
hundred and five, section four, divorce, civil code, and paragraph two, 
section nineteen, of the order of the Minister of Justice of Porto Rico, 
dated March seventeenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and 
promulgated by Major General Guy V. Henry, United States Volun¬ 
teers, be, and the same hereby are, so amended as to read: “Adultery 
on the part of either the husband or the wife.” 

Section 9. That the Commissioner of Navigation shall make such 
regulations, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
as he may deem expedient for the nationalization of all vessels owned 
by the inhabitants of Porto Rico on the eleventh day of April, eighteen 
hundred and ninety-nine, and which continued to be so owned up to 
the date of such nationalization, and for the admission of the same to 
all the benefits of the coasting trade of the United States; and the 
coasting trade between Porto Rico and the United States shall be 
regulated in accordance with the provisions of law applicable to such 
trade between any two great coasting districts of the United States. 

Section 10. That quarantine stations shall be established at 
such places in Porto Rico as the Supervising Surgeon-General of the 
Marine-Hospital Service of the United States shall direct, and the 
quarantine regulations relating to the importation of diseases from 
other countries shall be under the control of the Government of the 
United States. 

Section i i . That for the purpose of retiring the Porto Rico coins 
now in circulation in Porto Rico and substituting therefor the coins 
of the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby author¬ 
ized to redeem, on presentation in Porto Rico, all the silver coins of 
Porto Rico known as the peso and all other silver and copper Porto 
Rican coins now in circulation in Porto Rico, not including any such 
coins that may be imported into Porto Rico after the first day of 
February, nineteen hundred, at the present established rate of sixty 
cents in the coins of the United States for one peso of Porto Rican 
coin, and for all minor or subsidiary coins the same rate of exchange 
shall be applied. The Porto Rican coins so purchased or redeemed 
shall be recoined at the expense of the United States, under the direc- 


APPENDIX IX 


203 


tion of the Secretary of the Treasury, into such coins of the United 
States now authorized by law as he may direct, and from and after 
three months after the date when this Act shall take effect no coins 
shall be a legal tender, in payment of debts thereafter contracted, for 
any amount in Porto Rico, except those of the United States; and 
whatever sum may be required to carry out the provisions hereof, and 
to pay all expenses that may be incurred in connection therewith, is 
hereby appropriated, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 
authorized to establish such regulations and employ such agencies as 
may be necessary to accomplish the purposes hereof: Provided, how¬ 
ever, That all debts owing on the date when this Act shall take effect 
shall be payable in the coins of Porto Rico now in circulation, or in 
the coins of the United States at the rate of exchange above named. 

Section 12. That all expenses that may be incurred on account 
of the Government of Porto Rico for salaries of officials and the con¬ 
duct of their offices and departments, and all expenses and obligations 
contracted for the internal improvement or development of the island, 
not, however, including defenses, barracks, harbors, light houses, 
buoys, and other works undertaken by the United States, shall be 
paid by the Treasurer of Porto Rico out of the revenues in his custody. 

Section 13. That all property which may have been acquired in 
Porto Rico by the United States under the cession of Spain in said 
treaty of peace in any public bridges, road houses, water powers, high¬ 
ways, unnavigable streams, and the beds thereof, subterranean 
waters, mines, or minerals under the surface of private lands, and all 
property which at the time of the cession belonged, under the laws of 
Spain then in force, to the various harbor-works boards of Porto Rico, 
and all the harbor shores, docks, slips, and reclaimed lands, but not 
including harbor areas or navigable waters, is hereby placed under the 
control of the Government established by this Act to be administered 
for the benefit of the People of Porto Rico; and the Legislative Assem¬ 
bly hereby created shall have authority, subject to the limitations 
imposed upon all its acts, to legislate with respect to all such matters 
as it may deem advisable. 

Section 14. That the statutory laws of the United States not 
locally inapplicable, except as hereinbefore or hereinafter otherwise 
provided, shall have the same force and effect in Porto Rico as in the 


204 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


United States, except the internal-revenue laws, which, in view.of the 
provisions of section three, shall not have force and effect in Porto 
Rico. 

Section 15. That the legislative authority hereinafter provided 
shall have power by due enactment to amend, alter, modify, or repeal 
any law or ordinance, civil or criminal, continued in force by this Act, 
as it may from time to time see fit. 

Section 16. That all judicial processes shall run in the name of 
“United States of America, ss: the President of the United States,” 
and all criminal or penal prosecutions in the local courts shall be con¬ 
ducted in the name and by the authority of “The People of Porto 
Rico,” and all officials authorized by this Act shall before entering 
upon the duties of their respective offices take an oath to support the 
Constitution of the United States and the laws of Porto Rico. 

THE GOVERNOR 

Section 17. That the official title of the chief executive officer 
shall be “The Governor of Porto Rico.” He shall be appointed by the 
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; he shall 
hold his office for a term of four years and until his successor is chosen 
and qualified unless sooner removed by the President; he shall reside 
in Porto Rico during his official incumbency, and shall maintain his 
office at the seat of government; he may grant pardons and reprieves, 
and remit fines and forfeitures for offenses against the laws of Porto 
Rico, and respites for offenses against the laws of the United States, 
until the decision of the President can be ascertained; he shall com¬ 
mission all officers that he may be authorized to appoint, and may 
veto any legislation enacted, as hereinafter provided; he shall be the 
commander-in-chief of the militia, and shall at all times faithfully 
execute the laws, and he shall in that behalf have all the powers of 
governors of the Territories of the United States that are not locally 
inapplicable; and he shall annually, and at such other times as he 
may be required, make official report of the transactions of the Gov¬ 
ernment in Porto Rico, through the Secretary of State, to the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States: Provided , That the President may, in his 
discretion, delegate and assign to him such executive duties and func¬ 
tions as may in pursuance with law be so delegated and assigned. 


APPENDIX IX 


205 


THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 

Section 18. That there shall be appointed by the President, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for the period of four 
years, unless sooner removed by the President, a Secretary, an Attor¬ 
ney General, a Treasurer, an Auditor, a Commissioner of the Interior, 
and a Commissioner of Education, each of whom shall reside in Porto 
Rico during his official incumbency and have the powers and «duties 
hereinafter provided for them, respectively, and who, together with 
five other persons of good repute, to be also appointed by the Presi¬ 
dent for a like term of four years, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, shall constitute an Executive Council, at least five of 
whom shall be native inhabitants of Porto Rico, and, in addition to the 
legislative duties hereinafter imposed upon them as a body, shall exer¬ 
cise such powers and perform such duties as are hereinafter provided 
for them, respectively, and who shall have power to employ all neces¬ 
sary deputies and assistants for the proper discharge of their duties as 
such officials and as such Executive Council. 

Section 19. That the Secretary shall record and preserve minutes 
of the proceedings of the Executive Council and the laws enacted by 
the Legislative Assembly and all acts and proceedings of the Gover¬ 
nor, and shall promulgate all proclamations and orders of the Gover¬ 
nor and all laws enacted by the Legislative Assembly. He shall 
within sixty days after the end of each session of the Legislative 
Assembly, transmit to the President, the President of the Senate, the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Secretary of State 
of the United States one copy each of the laws and journals of such 
session. 

Section 20. That in case of the death, removal, resignation, or 
disability of the Governor, or his temporary absence from Porto Rico, 
the Secretary shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties 
of the Governor during such vacancy, disability, or absence. 

Section 21. That the Attorney General shall have all the powers 
and discharge all the duties provided by law for an attorney of a 
Territory of the United States in so far as the same are not locally in¬ 
applicable, and he shall perform such other duties as may be pre¬ 
scribed by law, and make such reports, through the Governor, to the 


2o6 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Attorney General of the United States as he may require, which shall 
annually be transmitted to Congress. 

Section 22. That the Treasurer shall give bond, approved as to 
form by the Attorney General of Porto Rico, in such sum as the 
Executive Council may require, not less, however, than the sum of 
one hundred thousand dollars, with surety approved by the Governor, 
and he shall collect and be the custodian of the public funds, and shall 
disburse the same when appropriated by law, on warrants signed by 
the Auditor and countersigned by the Governor, and shall perform 
such other duties as may be prescribed by law, and make, through the 
Governor, such reports to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United 
States, as he may require, which shall annually be transmitted to 
Congress. 

Section 23. That the Auditor shall keep full and accurate ac¬ 
counts, showing all receipts and disbursements and perform such other 
duties as may be prescribed by law, and make, through the Governor, 
such reports to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States as 
he may require, which shall annually be transmitted to Congress. 

Section 24. That the Commissioner of the Interior shall superin¬ 
tend all works of a public nature, and shall have charge of all public 
buildings, grounds and lands, except those belonging to the United 
States, and shall execute such requirements as may be imposed by 
law with respect thereto, and shall perform such other duties as may 
be prescribed by law, and make such reports through the Governor 
to the Secretary of the Interior of the United States as he may require, 
which shall annually be transmitted to Congress. 

Section 25. That the Commissioner of Education shall superin¬ 
tend public instruction throughout Porto Rico, and all disbursements 
on account thereof must be approved by him; and he shall perform 
such other duties as may be prescribed by law, and make such reports 
through the Governor as may be required by the Commissioner of 
Education of the United States, which shall annually be transmitted 
to Congress. 

Section 26. That the other five members of the Executive Coun¬ 
cil, to be appointed as hereinbefore provided, shall attend all meetings 
of the Executive Council and participate in all business of every char¬ 
acter that may be transacted by it; and they shall receive as com- 


APPENDIX IX 


207 

pensation for their services such annual salaries as may be provided 
by the Legislative Assembly. 

HOUSE OF DELEGATES 

Section 27. That all local legislative powers hereby granted shall 
be vested in a Legislative Assembly which shall consist of two houses; 
one the Executive Council, as hereinbefore constituted, and the other 
a House of Delegates, to consist of thirty-five members elected bi¬ 
ennially by the qualified voters as hereinafter provided; and the two 
houses thus constituted shall be designated “The Legislative Assem¬ 
bly of Porto Rico.” 

Section 28. That for the purposes of such elections Porto Rico 
shall be divided by the Executive Council into seven districts, com¬ 
posed of contiguous territory and as nearly equal as may be in popu¬ 
lation, and each district shall be entitled to five members of the House 
Df Delegates. 

ELECTION OF DELEGATES 

Section 29. That the first election for delegates shall be held on 
such date and under such regulations as to ballots and voting as the 
Executive Council may prescribe; and at such elections the voters of 
each legislative district shall choose five delegates to represent them 
in the House of Delegates from the date of their election and qualifica¬ 
tion until two years from and after the first day of January next en¬ 
suing; of all which thirty days’ notice shall be given by publication in 
the Official Gazette, or by printed notices distributed and posted 
throughout the district, or by both, as the Executive Council may 
prescribe. At such elections all citizens of Porto Rico shall be allowed 
to vote who have been bona fide residents for one year and who possess 
the other qualifications of voters under the laws and military orders 
in force on the first day of March, nineteen hundred, subject to such 
modifications and additional qualifications and such regulations and 
restrictions as to registration as may be prescribed by the Executive 
Council. The House of Delegates so chosen shall convene at the 
capital and organize by the election of a Speaker, a Clerk, a Sergeant- 
at-arms, and such ether officers and assistants as it may require, at 


208 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


such time as may be designated by the Executive Council; but it shall 
not continue in session longer than sixty days in any one year, unless 
called by the Governor to meet in extraordinary session. The enact¬ 
ing clause of the laws shall be, “Be it Enacted by the Legislative 
Assembly of Porto Rico;” and each member of the House of Delegates 
shall be paid for his services at the rate of five dollars per day for 
each day’s attendance while the house is in session, and mileage at the 
rate of ten cents per mile for each mile necessarily traveled each way 
to and from each session of the Legislative Assembly. 

All future elections of delegates shall be governed by the provisions 
hereof, so far as they are applicable, until the Legislative Assembly 
shall otherwise provide. 

Section 30. That the House of Delegates shall be the sole judge 
of the elections, returns and qualifications of its members, and shall 
have and exercise all the powers with respect to the conduct of its 
proceedings that usually appertain to parliamentary legislative 
bodies. No person shall be eligible to membership in the House of 
Delegates who is not twenty-five years of age and able to read and 
write either the Spanish or the English language, or who is not pos¬ 
sessed in his own right of taxable property, real or personal, situated 
in Porto Rico. 

Section 31. That all bills may originate in either house, but no 
bill shall become a law unless it be passed in each house by a majority 
vote of all the members belonging to such house and be approved by 
the Governor within ten days thereafter. If, when a bill that has been 
passed is presented to the Governor for signature, he approves the 
same, he shall sign it, or if not he shall return it, with his objections, 
to that house in which it originated, which house shall enter his objec¬ 
tions at large on its journal and proceed to reconsider the bill. If, 
after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to 
pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
house, by which it shall likewise be considered, and if approved by 
two-thirds of that house it shall become a law. But in all such cases 
the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and 
the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be en¬ 
tered upon the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall 
not be returned by the Governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) 


APPENDIX IX 


209 


after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in 
like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislative Assembly by 
adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law: 
Provided, however, That all laws enacted by the Legislative Assembly 
shall be reported to the Congress of the United States, which hereby 
reserves the power and authority, if deemed advisable, to annul the 
same. 

Section 32. That the legislative authority herein provided shall 
extend to all matters of a legislative character not locally inapplicable, 
including power to create, consolidate, and reorganize the municipali¬ 
ties, so far as may be necessary, and to provide and repeal laws and 
ordinances therefor; and also the power to alter, amend,’modify, and 
repeal any and all laws and ordinances of every character now in force 
in Porto Rico, or any municipality or district thereof, not inconsistent 
with the provisions hereof: Provided, however, That all grants of 
franchises, rights, and privileges or concessions of a public or quasi¬ 
public nature shall be made by the Executive Council, with the 
approval of the Governor, and all franchises granted in Porto Rico 
shall be reported to Congress, which hereby reserves the power to 
annul or modify the same. 

THE JUDICIARY 

Section 33. That the judicial power shall be vested in the courts 
and tribunals of Porto Rico as already established and now in opera¬ 
tion, including municipal courts, under and by virtue of General 
Orders, No. 118, as promulgated by Brigadier General Davis, United 
States Volunteers, August sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
nine, and including also the police courts established by General 
Orders, No. 195, promulgated November twenty-ninth, eighteen 
hundred and ninety-nine, by Brigadier General Davis, United States 
Volunteers, and the laws and ordinances of Porto Rico and the munic¬ 
ipalities thereof in force, so far as the same are not in conflict herewith, 
all which courts and tribunals are hereby continued. The jurisdiction 
of said courts and the form of procedure in them, and the various 
officials and attaches thereof, respectively, shall be the same as defined 
and prescribed in and by said laws and ordinances, and said General 


210 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Orders Nos. 118 and 195, until otherwise provided by law: Provided, 
however , That the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme 
Court and the Marshal thereof shall be appointed by the President, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and the Judges of 
the District Courts shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Executive Council, and all other officials 
and attaches of all the other courts shall be chosen as may be directed 
by the Legislative Assembly, which shall have authority to legislate 
from time to time as it may see fit with respect to said courts, and any 
others they may deem it advisable to establish, their organization, the 
number of judges and officials and attaches for each, their jurisdic¬ 
tion, their procedure, and all other matters effecting them. 

Section 34. That Porto Rico shall constitute a judicial district 
to be called “the District of Porto Rico.” The President, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint a District Judge, 
a District Attorney, and a Marshal for said district, each for a term 
of four years, unless sooner removed by the President. The district 
court for said district shall be called the District Court of the United 
States for Porto Rico, and shall have power to appoint all necessary 
officials and assistants, including a clerk, an interpreter, and such 
commissioners as may be necessary, who shall have like power and 
duties as are exercised and performed by commissioners of the circuit 
courts of the United States, and shall have, in addition to the ordinary 
jurisdiction of district courts of the United States, jurisdiction of all 
cases cognizant in the circuit courts of the United States, and shall 
proceed therein in the same manner as a circuit court. The laws of the 
United States relating to appeals, writs of error and certiorari, re¬ 
moval of causes, and other matters and proceedings as between the 
courts of the United States and the courts of the several States shall 
govern in such matters and proceedings as between the district court 
of the United States and the courts of Porto Rico. Regular terms of 
said courts shall be held at San Juan, commencing on the second 
Monday in April and October of each year, and also at Ponce on the 
second Monday in January of each year, and special terms may be 
held at Mayagtiez at such other stated times as said judge may deem 
expedient. All pleadings and proceedings in said court shall be con¬ 
ducted in the English language. 


APPENDIX IX 


211 


The United States District Court hereby established shall be the 
successor to the United States Provisional Court established by Gen¬ 
eral Orders, No. 88, promulgated by Brigadier General Davis, United 
States Volunteers, and shall take possession of all records of that 
court, and take jurisdiction of all cases and proceedings pending 
therein, and said United States Provisional Court is hereby dis¬ 
continued. 

Section 35. That writs of errors and appeals from the final de¬ 
cisions of the Supreme Court of Porto Rico and the District Court of 
the United States shall be allowed and may be taken to the Supreme 
Court of the United States in the same manner and under the same 
regulations and in the same cases as from the supreme courts of the 
Territories of the United States; and such writs-of error and appeal 
should be allowed in all cases where the Constitution of the United 
States, or a treaty thereof, or an Act of Congress is brought in ques¬ 
tion and the right claimed thereunder is denied; and the Supreme 
and District Courts of Porto Rico and the respective judges thereof 
may grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the same are 
grantable by the judges of the district and circuit courts of the United 
States. All such proceedings in the Supreme Court of the United 
States shall be conducted in the English language. 

Section 36. That the salaries of all officials of Porto Rico not 
appointed by the President, including deputies, assistants, and other 
help, shall be such, and be so paid ou of the revenues of Porto Rico, 
as the Executive Council shall from time to time determine: Provided, 
however , That the salary of no officer shall be either increased or 
diminished during his term of office. The salaries of all officers and 
all expenses of the offices of the various officials of Porto Rico, ap¬ 
pointed as herein provided by the President, including deputies, 
assistants, and other help, shall also be paid out of the revenues of 
Porto Rico on the warrant of the Auditor, countersigned by the 
Governor. 

The annual salaries of the officials appointed by the President, and 
so to be paid, shall be as follows: 

The Governor, eight thousand dollars; in addition thereto he shall 
be entitled to the occupancy of the buildings heretofore used by the 


212 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


chief executive of Porto Rico, with the furniture and effects therein, 
free of rental. 

The Secretary, four thousand dollars. 

The Attorney General, four thousand dollars. 

The Treasurer, five thousand dollars. 

The Auditor, four thousand dollars. 

The Commissioner of the Interior, four thousand dollars. 

The Commissioner of Education, three thousand dollars. 1 

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, five thousand dollars. 

The Associate Justices of the Supreme Court (each), four thousand 
five hundred dollars. 

The Marshal of the Supreme Court, three thousand dollars. 

The United States District Judge, five thousand dollars. 

The United States District Attorney, four thousand dollars. 

The United States District Marshal, three thousand five hundred 
dollars. 

Section 37. That the provisions of the foregoing section shall not 
apply to the municipal officials. Their salaries and the compensation 
of their deputies, assistants, and other help, as well as all other ex¬ 
penses incurred by the municipalities, shall be paid out of the municipal 
revenues in such manner as the Legislative Assembly shall provide. 

Section 38. That no export duties shall be levied or collected on 
exports from Porto Rico; but taxes and assessments on property, and 
license fees for franchises, privileges, and concessions may be imposed 
for the purposes of the Insular and municipal governments, respec¬ 
tively, as may be provided and defined by act of the Legislative 
Assembly; and where necessary to anticipate taxes and revenues, 
bonds and other obligations may be issued by Porto Rico or any 
municipal government therein as may be provided by law to provide 
for expenditures authorized by law, and to protect the public credit, 
and to reimburse the United States for any moneys which have been 
or may be expended out of the emergency fund of the War Depart¬ 
ment for the relief of the industrial conditions of Porto Rico caused 
by the hurricane of August eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine: 
Provided, however , That no public indebtedness of Porto Rico or of any 
municipality thereof shall be authorized or allowed in excess of seven 
per centum of the aggregate tax valuation of its property. 

1 Increased to four thousand dollars by a subsequent amendment. 


APPENDIX IX 


213 


Section 39. That the qualified voters of Porto Rico shall, on the 
first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, Anno Domini 
nineteen hundred, and every two years thereafter, choose a Resident 
Commissioner to the United States, who shall be entitled to official 
recognition as such by all Departments, upon presentation to the 
Department of State of a certificate of election of the Governor of 
Porto Rico, and who shall be entitled to a salary, payable monthly by 
the United States, at the rate of five thousand dollars per annum: 
Provided , That no person shall be eligible to such election who is not a 
bona fide citizen of Porto Rico, who is not thirty years of age, and who 
does not read and write the English language. 

Section 40. That a commission, to consist of three members, at 
least one of whom shall be a nativ e citizen of Porto Rico, shall be 
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, to compile and revise the la ws of Porto Rico; also the various 
codes of procedure and systems of municipal government now in 
force, and to frame and report such legislation as may be necessary to 
make a simple, harmonious, and economical government, establish 
justice and secure its prompt and efficient administration, inaugurate 
a general system of education and public instruction, provide build¬ 
ings and funds therefor, equalize and simplify taxation and all the 
methods of raising revenue, and make all other provisions that may 
be necessary to secure and extend the benefits of a republican form of 
government to all the inhabitants of Porto Rico; and all the expenses 
of such commissioners, including all necessary clerks and other assist- 
tants that they may employ, and a salary to each member of the com¬ 
mission at the rate of five thousand dollars per annum, shall be al¬ 
lowed and paid out of the Treasury of Porto Rico as a part of the 
expenses of the Government of Porto Rico. And said commission 
shall make full and final report, in both the English and Spanish lan¬ 
guages, of all its revisions, compilations and recommendations, with 
explanatory notes as to the changes and the reasons therefor, to the 
Congress on or before one year after the passage of this Act. 

Section 41. That this Act shall take effect and be in force from 
and after the first day of May, nineteen hundred. 


Approved, April 12, 1900. 


APPENDIX X 

THE AUTONOMOUS CHART 


Upon the proposition of my Prime Minister, and with the concur¬ 
rence of the Council of Ministers, in the name of my august son King 
Alfonso XIII, and as Queen Regent of the Kingdom, I hereby decree 
as follows: 

TITLE I 

GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL ADMINISTRATION IN THE ISLAND OF PORTO 

RICO 

Art. i. The system of government and civil administration in the 
Island of Porto Rico shall hereafter be carried on in conformity with 
the following provisions: 

Art. 2. This Island shall be governed by an Insular Parliament, 
consisting of two chambers, and by the Governor General, represent¬ 
ing the mother country, who shall exercise supreme authority. 

TITLE II 

THE INSULAR CHAMBERS 

Art. 3. The legislative power as to colonial matters in the shape 
and manner prescribed by law, shall be vested in the insular chambers 
conjointly with the Governor General. 

Art. 4. Insular representation shall consist of two bodies of equal 
powers, which shall be known as the Chamber of Representatives and 
the Council of Administration. 

Explanatory Note. To facilitate the understanding of this decree and 
to avoid confusion as to the legal value of the terms employed therein the 
following definitions are to be observed: 

Central Executive Power, The King with his Council of Ministers. 

The Spanish Parliament, The Cortes with the King. 

214 


APPENDIX X 


215 


The Spanish Chambers, The Congress and the Senate. 

The Central Government, The Council of Ministers of the Kingdom. 

The Colonial Parliament, The two Chambers with the Governor General. 

The Colonial Chambers, The Council of Administration and the Cham¬ 
ber of Representatives. 

Colonial Legislative Assembly, The Council of Administration and the 
Chamber of Representatives. 

Governor General in Council, The Governor General with the Secretaries 
of his Cabinet. 

Instructions of the Governor General, Those which he may have received 
when named for his office. 

Statute, Colonial measure of a legislative character. 

Colonial Statutes, Colonial Legislation. 

Legislation or General Laws, Legislation or laws of the Kingdom 
TITLE III 

COUNCIL OF ADMINISTRATION 

Art. 5. The Council shall be composed of fifteen members, of 
whom eight shall be elected in the manner directed by the electoral 
law and seven shall be appointed by the Governor General acting for 
the Crown, from among such persons as have the qualifications speci¬ 
fied in the following articles: 

Art. 6 . To be entitled to sit in the Council of Administration it 
is necessary to be a Spanish subject; to have attained the age of 
thirty-five years;- to have been born in the Island, or to have had four 
years’ constant residence therein; not to be subject to any pending 
criminal prosecution; to be in the full enjoyment of political rights; 
to have property free from attachment; to have had for two or more 
years previous an annual income of four thousand dollars; to have no 
interest in any contract with either the insular or the home Govern¬ 
ment. 

The shareholders of a stock company shall not be considered as 
Government contractors, even if the company has a contract with 
the Government. 

Art. 7. Persons are also qualified to serve as Councilors who, be¬ 
sides the above-stated requirements, have any of the following 
qualifications: 


2 l6 


PORTO RICO CIVTCS 


1. To be or to have been a Senator of the Kingdom, or to possess 
the requirements for being a Senator, in conformity with Title III 
of the Constitution. [See Appendix XIII.] 

2. To have held for a period of two years any of the following 
offices: 

President, or Prosecuting Attorney, of the Territorial Court of 
Porto Rico. 

Rector of the Institute of San Juan. 

Councilor of Administration in the Council formerly thus desig¬ 
nated. 

President of the Chambers of Commerce of San Juan or of Ponce. 

President of the Porto Rico Economic Society of Friends of the 
Country. 

President of the Planters’ Association. 

Dean of the Bar of San Juan. 

Mayor of San Juan or President of the Provincial Assembly during 
two terms. 

Dean of the Cathedral. 

3. Likewise may be elected or appointed as Councilor any property 
owner from among the fifty taxpayers paying the highest taxes, 
either on real estate or on industries, commerce, arts, and the pro¬ 
fessions. 

Art. 8. The Councilors appointed by the Crown shall be ap¬ 
pointed by special decrees, stating the qualification entitling the 
appointee to serve as Councilor. 

Councilors thus appointed shall hold office for life. 

One half the number of elective councilors shall be elected every 
five years, and the whole number shall be elected whenever the Coun¬ 
cil of Administration shall be dissolved by the Governor General. 

Art. 9. The qualifications required in order to be appointed or 
elected Councilor of Administration may be changed by a national 
law, at the request or upon the proposition of the insular chambers. 

Art. 10. No Councilor shall, during the session of the Council, 
accept any civil office, promotion (unless it be strictly by seniority), 
title, or decoration; but any Councilor may be appointed by either 
the local or the home Government to any commission within his own 
profession or category, whenever the public service shall require it. 


APPENDIX X 


217 

The Secretaries of the Insular Government shall be excepted from 
the foregoing rule. 

TITLE IV 

THE CHAMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES 

Art. ii. The Chamber of Representatives shall be composed of 
members named by the electoral boards in the manner prescribed by 
law and in the proportion of one for every twenty-five thousand 
inhabitants. 

Art. 12. To be elected as Representative the candidate must 
have the following requirements: To be a Spanish citizen, to be a lay¬ 
man, to have attained his majority, 1 to be in full enjoyment of civil 
rights, to have been born in the island or to have had four yearn’ con¬ 
stant residence therein, and not to be subject to any pending criminal 
prosecution. 

Art. 13. Representatives shall be elected every five years, and 
any representative may be reelected any number of times. 

The insular Chamber shall determine what classes of offices are 
incompatible with the office of Representative, as well as the cases 
governing reelection. 

Art. 14. Any Representative upon whom either the local or home 
Government shall confer a pension, or any employment, promotion 
(unless it be by strict seniority) paid commission, title, or decoration, 
shall cease to be such without necessity of any declaration to that 
effect, unless he shall within fifteen days of his appointment notify 
the Chamber of his having declined the favor. 

The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not include the 
Representatives who shall be appointed members of the Cabinet. 

TITLE V 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSULAR CHAMBERS AND THEIR RELATIONS TO 

EACH OTHER 

Art. 15. The chambers will meet every year. The King, the 
Governor General acting in his name, shall convene, suspend, and 
adjourn the sessions and dissolve the Chamber of Representatives 
1 Twenty-five years. 


2 l8 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


and the Council of Administration, either separately or simultane¬ 
ously, under the obligation to call them together again or renew them 
within three months. 

Art. i 6 Each of the two legislative bodies shall determine the 
rules of their proceedings and shall be the judges of the qualifications 
of their respective members and the legality of their election. 

Until the Chamber and the Council shall pass their own rules, they 
shall be governed by the rules of the national House of Representa¬ 
tives and of the Senate, respectively. 

Art. 17. Each chamber shall choose its president, vice-president 
and secretaries. 

Art. 18. Neither chamber shall sit unless the other be sitting also, 
except when the Council exercises judicial functions. 

Art. 19. The two insular chambers shall not deliberate together 
nor in the presence of the Governor General. 

The sessions shall be public, but either chamber may hold secret 
sessions whenever business of a private nature shall require it. 

Art. 20. To the Governor General, through his secretaries, as 
well as to either of the two chambers, belongs the power to initiate 
and propose colonial statutes. 

Art. 21. All colonial statutes in regard to taxes and the public 
credit shall originate in the Chamber of Representatives. 

Art. 22. Resolutions may be passed by either chamber by a 
plurality of votes; but in order to pass a measure of a legislative 
character a majority of all the members constituting the body must be 
present. Nevertheless, one third of the members shall constitute a 
quorum for deliberation. 

Art. 23. No resolution or law shall be considered passed by the 
Insular Parliament unless it has had the concurrence of the Chamber 
of Representatives and the Council of Administration. 

Art. 24. Every colonial statute, as soon as it has been approved 
in the form prescribed in the preceding article, shall be presented to 
the Governor General by the officers of both chambers for his sanc¬ 
tion and proclamation of the same. 

Art. 25. Members of the Council and the Chamber of Repre¬ 
sentatives shall have immunity for any speech or vote in either 
chamber. 



APPENDIX X 


219 


Art. 26. No Councilor of Administration shall be indicted or 
arrested without a previous resolution of the Council, unless he shall 
be found in fraganti or the Council shall not be in session, but in every 
case notice shall be given to that body as soon as possible, that it may 
determine what should be done. Nor shall the Representatives be 
indicted or arrested during the sessions without the permission of the 
chambers unless they are found in fraganti, but in this last case, or in 
case of indictment or arrest when the Chamber is not sitting, notice 
shall be given as soon as possible to the Chamber of Representatives 
for its information and action. All proceedings against Councilors 
and Representatives shall be brought before the Territorial Court of 
Porto Rico in the cases and manner that shall be prescribed by 
colonial statutes. 

Art. 27. The guarantees established in the foregoing section shall 
not apply to a Councilor or Representative who shall himself admit 
that he is the author of any article, book, pamphlet, or printed matter 
wherein military sedition is incited or invoked, or the Governor 
General is insulted and maligned, or national sovereignty is assailed. 

Art. 28. The relations between the two chambers shall be gov¬ 
erned, until otherwise provided, by the act of July 19,1837, regulating 
the relations between the two legislative houses of the Cortes. 

Art. 29. Besides the power of enacting laws for the colony the 
insular chambers shall have power: 

1. To receive the oath of the Governor General to preserve the 
Constitution and the laws which guarantee the autonomy of the 
colony. 

2. To enforce the responsibility of the Secretaries of the executive, 
who shall be tried by the Council, whenever impeached by the 
Chamber of Representatives. 

3. To address the home Government through the Governor 
General, proposing the abrogation or modification of existing laws of 
the Kingdom; to invite the home Government to present bills as to 
particular matters, or to ask a decision of an executive character on 
matters which interest the colony. 

Art. 30. The Governor General shall communicate to the home 
Government before presenting to the Insular Parliament any bill 
originating in the executive Government of the Island whenever, in 


220 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


his judgment, said bill may effect national interests. Should any such 
bill originate in the Insular Parliament, the Government of the Island 
shall ask for a postponement of the debate until the home Govern¬ 
ment shall have given its opinion. 

In either case the correspondence passing between the two Govern¬ 
ments shall be laid before the chambers and published in the official 
Gazette. 

Art. 31. All differences of jurisdiction between the several muni¬ 
cipal, provincial, and insular assemblies, or between any of them and 
the executive, which by their nature may not be referred to the home 
Government, shall be submitted to the courts of justice in accordance 
with the rules herein prescribed. 

TITLE VI 

POWERS VESTED IN THE INSULAR PARLIAMENT 

Art. 32. The insular chambers shall have power to pass upon all 
matters not specially and expressly reserved to the Cortes of the 
Kingdom or to the central Government as herein provided, or as ma> 
be provided hereafter, in accordance with the prescription set forth 
in Additional Article 2. 

In this manner, and without implying that the following enumera¬ 
tion presupposes any limitation of their power to legislate on other 
subjects, they shall have power to legislate on all matters and subjects 
concerning the departments of Justice, Interior, Treasury, Public 
Works, Education, and Agriculture. 

They shall likewise have exclusive cognizance of all matters of a 
purely local nature which may principally affect the colonial territory; 
and to this end they shall have power to legislate on civil adminis¬ 
tration; on provincial, municipal, or judicial apportionment; on 
public health, by land or sea, and on public credit, banks, and the 
monetary system. 

This power, however, shall not impair the powers vested in the 
colonial executive according to the laws in connection with the mat¬ 
ters above mentioned. 

Art. 33. It shall be incumbent upon the Colonial Parliament to 
make regulations under such national laws as may be passed by the 


APPENDIX X 


221 


Cortes and expressly intrusted to it. Especially among such meas¬ 
ures, Parliament shall legislate, and may do so at the first sitting, for 
the purpose of regulating the elections, the taking of the electoral 
census, qualifying electors, and exercising the right of suffrage; but 
in no event shall these dispositions affect the rights of the citizens, as 
established by the electoral laws. 

Art. 34. Notwithstanding that the laws governing the judiciary 
and the administration of justice are of a national character, and 
therefore obligatory for the colony, the Insular Parliament may, 
within the provisions of said laws, make rules or propose to the home 
Government such measures as shall render easier the admission, con¬ 
tinuance, or promotion in the local courts of lawyers, natives of the 
island, or practicing therein. 

The Governor General in council shall have, as far as the island of 
Porto Rico is concerned, the same power that has been vested 
heretofore in the Minister for the colonies for the appointment of 
the functionaries and subordinate and auxiliary officers of the 
judicial order and as to the other matters connected with the 
administration of justice. 

Art. 35. The Insular Parliament shall have exclusive power to 
frame the local budget of expenditures and revenues, including the 
revenue corresponding to the Island as her quota of the national 
budget. 

To this end the Governor General shall present to the chambers 
any day before the month of January the budget for the next fiscal 
year, divided in two parts, as follows: The first part shall state the 
revenues needed to defray the expenses of sovereignty, and the second 
part shall state the revenues and expenditures estimated for the 
maintenance of the colonial administration. 

Neither chamber shall take up the budget of the colonial Govern¬ 
ment without having finally voted the part for the maintenance of 
sovereignty. 

Art. 36. The Cortes of the Kingdom shall determine what ex¬ 
penditures are to be considered by reason of their nature as obligatory 
expenses inherent to sovereignty, and shall fix the amount every three 
years and the revenue needed to defray the same, the Cortes reserving 
the right to alter this rule. 


222 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Art. 37. All treaties of commerce affecting the Island, be they sug¬ 
gested by the insular or by the home Government, shall be made by 
the latter with the co-operation of special delegates duly authorized 
by the colonial Government, whose concurrence shall be acknowl¬ 
edged upon submitting the treaties to the Cortes. 

Said treaties, when approved by the Cortes, shall be proclaimed as 
laws of the Kingdom and as such shall obtain in the colony. 

Art. 38. Notice shall be given to the insular Government of any 
commercial treaties made without its participation as soon as said 
treaties shall become laws, to the end that, within a period of three 
months, it may declare its acceptance or non-acceptance of their stip¬ 
ulations. In case of acceptance the Governor General shall cause the 
treaty to be published in the Gazette as a colonial statute. 

Art. 39. The Insular Parliament shall also have power to frame 
the tariff and fix the duties to be paid on merchandise as well as for its 
importation into the territory of the Island as for the exportation 
thereof. 

Art. 40. As a transition from the old regime to the new Constitu¬ 
tion, and until the home and insular Governments may otherwise con¬ 
jointly determine hereafter, the commercial relations between the 
Island and the Mother Country shall be governed by the following 
rules: 

1. No differential duty, whether fiscal or otherwise, either on im¬ 
ports or exports, shall be imposed to the detriment of either insular or 
peninsular production. 

2. The two Governments shall make a schedule of articles of direct 
national origin to which shall be allowed by common consent prefer¬ 
ential duty over similar foreign products. 

In another schedule made in like manner shall be determined such 
articles of direct insular production as shall be entitled .to privileged 
treatment on their importation into the Peninsula and the amount of 
preferential duties thereon. 

In neither case shall the preferential duty exceed 35 per cent. 

Should the home and the colonial Governments agree upon the 
schedules and the preferential duties, they shall be considered final 
and shall be enforced at once. In case of disagreement the point in 
dispute shall be submitted to a committee of Representatives of the 





APPENDIX X 


223 


Cortes, consisting of an equal number of Porto Ricans and Spaniards. 
The committee shall appoint its chairman, and in case of disagree¬ 
ment the eldest member shall preside. The chairman shall have the 
casting vote. 

3. The valuation tables concerning the articles in the schedules 
above mentioned shall be fixed by mutual agreement, and shall be 
revised after discussion every two years. The modifications which 
may thereupon become necessary in the tariff duties shall be carried 
out at once by the respective Governments. 

TITLE VII 

THE GOVERNOR GENERAL 

Art. 41. The supreme authority of the colony shall be vested in a 
Governor General, appointed by the King on the nomination of the 
Council of Ministers. In this capacity he shall have as viceroyal 
patron the power inherent in the Patronate of the Indies; he shall 
have command of all military and naval forces in the island; he shall 
act as delegate of the departments of State, War, Navy, and the 
Colonies; all other authorities in the Island shall be subordinate to 
his, and he shall be responsible for the preservation of order and the 
safety of the colony. 

The Governor General shall, before taking possession of his office, 
take an oath in the presence of the King to discharge his duties faith¬ 
fully and loyally. 

Art. 42. The Governor General, representing the Nation, will 
discharge by himself and with the aid of his Secretaries all the func¬ 
tions indicated in the preceding articles and such others as may de¬ 
volve upon him as direct delegate of the King in matters of a national 
character. 

It shall be incumbent upon the Governor General as representing 
the home Government: 

1. To appoint without restriction the Secretaries of his Cabinet. 

2. To proclaim, execute, and cause to be executed in the Island all 
laws, decrees, treaties, international covenants, and all other acts 
emanating from the legislative branch of the Government, as well as 
all decrees, royal commands, and other measures emanating from the 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


224 

executive which shall be communicated to him by the departments of 
which he acts as delegate. 

Whenever in his judgment and in that of his Secretaries he con¬ 
siders the resolutions of the home Government as liable to injure the 
general interests of the Nation or the special interests of the Island, he 
shall have power to suspend the publication and execution thereof, 
and shall so notify the respective department, stating the reasons for 
his action. 

3. To grant pardons in the name of the King, within the limitations 
specially prescribed to him in his instructions from the Government, 
and to stay the execution of a death sentence whenever the gravity of 
the circumstances shall so demand or the urgency of the case shall 
allow of no time to solicit and obtain His Majesty’s pardon; but in 
either case he shall hear the counsel of his Secretaries. 

4. To suspend the guarantees set forth in Articles 4, 5, 6, and 9, 
and in the first, second, and third paragraphs of Article 13 1 of the 
Constitution; to enforce legislation in regard to public order, and to 
take all measures which he may deem necessary to preserve the peace 
within and the safety without for the territory entrusted to him 
after hearing the counsel of his Cabinet. 

5. To take care that in the colony justice be promptly and fully 
administered, and that it shall always be administered in the name 
of the King. 

6. To hold direct communication on foreign affairs with the minis¬ 
ters, diplomatic agents, and consuls of Spain throughout America. 

A full copy of such correspondence shall be simultaneously for¬ 
warded to the home Department of State. 

Art. 43. It behooves the Governor General, as the superior au¬ 
thority in the colony and head of its administration: 

1. To take care that the rights, powers, and privileges now vested 
or that may henceforth be vested in the colonial administration be 
respected and protected. 

2. To sanction and proclaim the acts of the Insular Parliament 
which shall be submitted to him by the president and secretaries of 
the respective chambers. 

Whenever, in the judgment of the Governor General an act of the 
1 See Appendix XIV. 


APPENDIX X 


225 


Insular Parliament goes beyond its powers or impairs the rights of the 
citizens as set forth in Title I 1 of the Constitution, or curtails the 
guarantees prescribed by law for the exercise of said rights, or jeopards 
the interest of the colony or of the nation, he shall forward the act to 
the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom, which, within a period that 
shall not exceed two months, shall either assent to it or return it to the 
Governor General with the objections to its sanction and proclama¬ 
tion. The Insular Parliament may, in view of the objections, recon¬ 
sider or modify the act, if it deems fit, without a special proposition. 

If two months shall elapse without the central Government giving 
any opinion as to a measure agreed upon by the chambers which has 
been transmitted to it by the Governor General, the latter shall sanc¬ 
tion and proclaim the same. 

3. To appoint, suspend, and discharge the employees of the co¬ 
lonial administration, upon the suggestion of the Secretaries of the 
departments and in accordance with the laws. 

4. To appoint and remove, without restriction, the Secretaries of 
his Cabinet. 

Art. 44. No executive order of the Governor General, acting as 
representative and chief of the colony, shall take effect unless counter¬ 
signed by a Secretary of the Cabinet, who by this act alone shall make 
himself responsible for the same. 

Art. 45. There shall be five Secretaries of department, to wit: 

Grace and Justice and Interior; Finance; Public Education; 
Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs; Agriculture, Industry, and 
Commerce. 

The Governor General shall appoint the president of the Cabinet 
from among the Secretaries, and shall also have power to appoint a 
president without a Secretaryship. 

The power to increase or diminish the number of Secretaries com¬ 
posing the colonial Cabinet, and to determine the scope of each de¬ 
partment, is vested in the Insular Parliament. 

Art. 46. The Secretaries of the Cabinet may be members of 
either the Chamber of Representatives or the Council of Administra¬ 
tion and take part in the debates of either chamber, but a Secretary 
shall only vote in the chamber of which he is a member. 

1 See Appendix XIV 


226 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Art. 47. The Secretaries of the Cabinet shall be responsible to the 
Insular Parliament. 

Art. 48. The Governor General shall not modify or abrogate his 
own orders after they are assented to by the home Government, or 
when they shall, declare some rights, or when a sentence by a judicial 
court or administrative tribunal shall have been based upon said 
orders, or when they shall deal with his own competency. 

Art. 49. The Governor General shall not turn over his office when 
leaving the Island except by special command from the home Govern¬ 
ment. In case of absence from the seat of Government which pre¬ 
vents his discharging the duties of his office or of disability to perform 
such duties, he can appoint one or more persons to take his place, pro¬ 
vided the home Government has not previously done so or the method 
of substitution shall not be stated in his instructions. 

Art. 50. The Supreme Court shall have the sole power to try the 
Governor General when impeached for his responsibilities as defined 
by the Penal Code. 

The Council of Ministers shall take cognizance of his other re¬ 
sponsibilities. 

Art. 51. The Governor General shall have the power, in spite of 
the provisions of the different articles of this decree, to act upon his 
own responsibility, without consulting his Secretaries, in the following 
cases: 

1. When forwarding to the home Government a bill passed by the 
Insular Parliament, especially when, in his opinion, it shall abridge the 
rights set forth in Title I of the Constitution of the Monarchy or the 
guarantees for the exercise thereof vouchsafed by the laws. 

2. When it shall be necessary to enforce the law or public order, 
especially if there be no time or possibility to consult the home 
Government. 

3. When enforcing the national laws that shall have been approved 
by the Crown and made applicable to all of the Spanish or to the 
colony under his Government. 

The proceedings and means of action which the Governor General 
shall employ in the above cases shall be determined by a special law. 


APPENDIX X 


227 


TITLE VIII 

MUNICIPAL AND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT 

Art. 52. Municipal organization shall be compulsory for every 
group of population of more than one thousand inhabitants. 

Groups of less number of inhabitants may organize the service of 
their community by special covenants. 

Every legally constituted municipality shall have power to frame 
its own laws regarding public education; highways by land, river, and 
sea; public health; municipal finances, as well as to freely appoint 
and remove its own employees. 

Art. 53. At the head of the province there shall be an assembly, 
which shall be elected in the manner provided for by the colonial 
statutes, and shall be composed of a number of members in proportion 
to the population. 

Art. 54. The provincial assembly shall be autonomous as regards 
the creation and maintenance of public schools and colleges; charita¬ 
ble institutions, and provincial roads and ways by land, river, or sea; 
also as regards their own budgets and the appointment and removal 
of their respective employees. 

Art. 55. The municipalities, as well as the provincial assembly, 
shall have power to freely raise the necessary revenue to cover their 
expenditures, with no other limitation than to make the means 
adopted compatible with the general system of taxation which shall 
obtain in the Island. 

The resources for provincial appropriations shall be independent of 
municipal resources. 

Art. 56. The mayors and presidents of boards of aldermen shall 
be chosen by their respective boards from among their members. 

Art. 57. The mayors shall discharge without limitation the active 
duties of the municipal administration, as executors of the resolutions 
of the board of aldermen or their representatives. 

Art. 58. The aldermen and the provincial assemblymen shall be 
civilly responsible for the damages caused by their acts. 

Their responsibility shall be exacted before the ordinary courts of 
justice. 


228 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Art. 59. The provincial assembly shall freely choose its presi¬ 
dent. 

Art. 60. The elections of aldermen and assemblymen shall be 
conducted in such manner as to allow for a legitimate representation 
of the minorities. 

Art. 61. The provincial and municipal laws now obtaining in the 
Island shall continue in vogue, wherever not in conflict with the pro¬ 
visions of this decree, until the Insular Parliament shall legislate upon 
the matter. 

Art. 62. No colonial statute shall abridge the powers vested 
by the preceding articles in the municipalities and the provincial 
assemblies. 

TITLE IX 

AS TO THE GUARANTEES FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF THE COLONIAL 
CONSTITUTION 

Art. 63. Whenever a citizen shall consider that his rights have 
been violated or his interests injured by the action of a municipality 
or the provincial assembly he^ shall have the right to apply to the 
courts of justice for redress. 

The department of Justice shall, if so required by the agents of the 
executive Government of the colony, prosecute before the courts the 
boards of aldermen or the provincial assembly charged with breaking 
the laws or abusing their power. 

Art. 64. In the cases referred to in the preceding article, the fol¬ 
lowing courts shall have jurisdiction: The Civil Section of the 
Territorial Court of Porto Rico shall try all claims against muni¬ 
cipalities, and the full Court shall try all claims against the provincial 
assembly. 

Said courts, when the charges against any of the above-mentioned 
corporations shall be for abuse of power, shall render their decisions by 
a full bench. From the decision of the Territorial Court an appeal 
shall be allowed to the Supreme Court of the Kingdom. 

Art. 65. The redress of grievances which Article 63 grants to any 
citizen can also be had collectively by means of public action, by 
appointing an attorney or representative claimant. 

Art. 66 . Without in any way impairing the powers vested in the 


APPENDIX X 


229 


Governor General by Title V of the present decree, he may, whenever 
he deems fit, appear before the Territorial Court of Porto Rico in his 
capacity as chief of the executive Government of the colony, to the 
end that said court shall finally decide any conflict of jurisdiction 
between the executive power and the legislative chambers of the 
colony. 

Art. 67. Should any question of jurisdiction be raised between 
the Insular Parliament and the Governor General in his capacity as 
representative of the home Government, which shall not have been 
submitted to the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom by petition of 
the Insular Parliament, either party shall have power to bring the 
matter before the Supreme court of the Kingdom, which shall render 
its decision by a full bench and in the first instance. 

Art. 68. The decisions rendered in all cases provided for in the 
preceding articles shall be published in the Collection of Colonial 
Statutes and shall form part of the insular legislation. 

Art. 69. Every municipal measure for the purpose of contracting 
a loan or a municipal debt shall be without effect, unless it be as¬ 
sented to by a majority of the townspeople whenever one-third of the 
number of aldermen shall so demand. 

The amount of the loan or debt which, according to the number of 
inhabitants of a township, shall make the referendum proceeding 
necessary, shall be determined by special statute. 

Art. 70. All legislative acts originating in the Insular Parliament 
or the Cortes shall be compiled under the title of Colonial Statutes in 
a legislative collection, the formation and publication of which shall be 
entrusted to the Governor General as chief of the colonial executive. 

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES 

Art. 1. Until the colonial statutes shall be published in due form, 
the laws of the Kingdom shall be deemed applicable to all matters 
reserved to the jurisdiction of the insular Government. 

Art. 2. When the present Constitution shall be once approved by 
the Cortes of the Kingdom for the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, it 
shall not be amended except by virtue of a special law and upon the 
petition of the Insular Parliament. 


230 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Art. 3. Pending contracts for public services affecting in common 
the Antilles and the Peninsula shall continue in their present shape 
until termination, and shall be entirely governed by the conditions 
and stipulations therein made. 

As regards other contracts already entered into, but not yet in 
operation, the Governor General shall consult the home Government, 
or the colonial chambers, as the case may be, and the two Govern¬ 
ments shall by mutual accord decide as between themselves the final 
form of such contract. 


TRANSITORY PROVISIONS 

Art. 1. With a view to carry out the transition from the present 
regime to the system hereby established with the greatest possible 
dispatch and the least interruption of the public business, the Gover¬ 
nor General shall, whenever he deems it timely and after consulting 
the home Government, appoint the Secretaries of the executive office 
as per Article 45 of this decree, and with their aid he shall conduct the 
local Government of the Island until the insular chambers shall have 
been constituted. The Secretaries thus appointed shall vacate their 
offices as soon as the Governor General shall take his oath of office 
before the insular chambers, and the Governor General shall imme¬ 
diately appoint as their successors the members of Parliament who, 
in his judgment, most fully represent the majorities in the Chamber 
of Representatives and the Council of Administration. 

Art. 2. Should the Insular Government wish to assign to some 
other class of public works the 250.000 dollars which were appro¬ 
priated by the law of August 24, 1896 for subsidizing narrow-gage 
railroads, the Insular Government would propose to the home 
Government whatever it deemed expedient. 


APPENDIX XI 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

In Congress, July 4, 1776 

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in 
Congress Assembled 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one 
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with 
another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate 
and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God 
entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires 
that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separa¬ 
tion. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created 
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalien¬ 
able rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted 
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the gov¬ 
erned; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive 
of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and 
to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such princi¬ 
ples, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem 
most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, 
will dictate that governments long established should not be changed 
for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath 
shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are suffer¬ 
able, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they 
are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, 
pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them 
under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. 
Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is 

231 


232 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems 
of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a 
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct 
object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. 
To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary 
for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and press¬ 
ing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent 
should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected 
to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large 
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right 
of representation in the legislature, — a right inestimable to them, 
and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncom¬ 
fortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for 
the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measure. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, 
with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of 
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; 
the state remaining, in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of 
invasions from without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for 
that purpose obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners, 
refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising 
the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his 
assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of 
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms 
of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us in times of peace, standing armies, without 
the consent of our legislatures. 


APPENDIX XI 


233 


He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior 
to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign 
to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his 
assent to their acts of pretended legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any 
murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury; 

For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offenses; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging 
its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument 
for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies; 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, 
and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his pro¬ 
tection and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, 
and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries 
to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already 
begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled 
in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a 
civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high 
seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners 
of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has endeavored 
to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian sav¬ 
ages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction 
of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress 


234 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered 
only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by 
every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free 
people. 

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren. 
We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legis¬ 
lature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have re¬ 
minded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement 
here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity; 
and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to 
disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our 
connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the 
voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in 
the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we 
hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, 
in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the 
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the 
authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and 
declare, That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free 
and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to 
the British crown, and’that all political connection between them and 
the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and 
that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, 
conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all 
other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And, 
for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protec¬ 
tion of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, 
our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 



APPENDIX XII 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect 
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the 
common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the bless¬ 
ings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I 

Section I. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in 
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a 
House of Representatives. 

Sect. II. i. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, 
and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite 
for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 
to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of 
that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, accord¬ 
ing to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding 
to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service 
for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all 
other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three 
years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and 
within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they, 
shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed 

235 




236 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one 
representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State 
of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts 
eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut 
five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware 
one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina 
five, and Georgia three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, 
the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such 

_ vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and 
other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Sect. III. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
of two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, 
for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the 
first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three 
classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated 
at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expira¬ 
tion of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the 
sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if 
vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the 
legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary 
appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall 
then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the 
age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for 
which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the 
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President 
pro tempore , in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall 
exercise the office of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 
When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. 
When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice 


APPENDIX XII 


2 37 


shall preside: and no person shall be convicted without the concur¬ 
rence of two thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than 
to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any 
office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party 
convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, 
judgment and punishment, according to law. 

Sect. IV. 1. The times, places and manner of holding elections 
for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by 
the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make 
or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and 
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they 
shall by law appoint a different day. 

Sect. V. 1. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, re¬ 
turns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each 
shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may 
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the atten¬ 
dance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties, 
as each house may provide. 

2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish 
its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two 
thirds, expel a member. 

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time 
to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judg¬ 
ment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either 
house on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, 
be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the 
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Sect. VI. 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a 
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law and paid 
out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases except 
treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest 
during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, 
and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech 


238 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any 
other place. * 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of 
the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments 
whereof shall have been increased, during such time; and no person 
holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either 
house during his continuance in office. 

Sect. VII. 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur 
with amendments as on other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives 
and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the 
President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if 
not he shall return it with his objections to that house in which it shall 
have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their jour¬ 
nal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two 
thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, to¬ 
gether with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall like¬ 
wise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two thirds of that house, it 
shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses 
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons 
voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each 
house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President 
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented 
to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, 
unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which 
case it shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a 
question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the 
United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be ap¬ 
proved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two 
thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the 
rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sect. VIII. The Congress shall have power 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the 


APPENDIX XII 


239 


debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the 
United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian tribes; 

4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform 
laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 
and fix the standard of weights and measures; 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities 
and current coin of the United States; 

7. To establish post offices and post roads; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing 
for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their 
respective writings and discoveries; 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas and offenses against the law of nations; 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
rules concerning captures on land and water; 

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to 
that use shall be for a longer term than two years; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy; 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land 
and naval forces; 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of 
the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, 
and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service 
of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appoint¬ 
ment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according 
to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over 
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of 
particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of 
government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over 


240 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State, in 
which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, 
dock-yards, and other needful buildings; — and 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry¬ 
ing into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested 
by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any 
department or office thereof. 

Sect. IX. i. The migration or importation of such persons as any 
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be pro¬ 
hibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808; but a tax or duty may 
be imposed on such importation, not exceeding $10 for each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in 
proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be 
taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
State. 

6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or 
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall 
vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay 
duties in another. 

7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence 
of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account 
of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published 
from time to time. 

8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and 
no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, with¬ 
out the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, 
office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign 
state. 

Sect. X. 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con¬ 
federation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit 
bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in 
payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law 


APPENDIX XII 


241 


impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of no¬ 
bility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be abso¬ 
lutely necessary for executing its inspection laws: and the net produce 
of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall 
be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws 
shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of 
tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any 
agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or 
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as 
will not admit of delay. 


ARTICLE II 

Section I. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President 
of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the 
term of four years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen for 
the same term, be elected as follows: 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number 
of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled 
in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding 
an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed 
an elector. 

[The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant 
of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all 
the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of govern¬ 
ment of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. 
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall 
then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes 
shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole num¬ 
ber of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have 
such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of 


242 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for 
President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five high¬ 
est on the list the said house shall in like manner choose the President. 
But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by States, the 
representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the 
States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. 
In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having 
the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice- 
President. But if there should remain two or more who have 
equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice- 
President.] 

3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors 
and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be 
the same throughout the United States. 

4. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall 
be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligi¬ 
ble to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty- 
five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United 
States. 

5. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his 
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of 
the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the 
Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resigna¬ 
tion, or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring 
what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act 
accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be 
elected. 

6. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a 
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during 
the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not re¬ 
ceive within that period any other emolument from the United States, 
or any of them. 

7. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the 
following oath or affirmation: — “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, 


APPENDIX XII 


243 


and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the 
Constitution of the United States.” 

Sect. II. 1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the 
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several 
States, when called into the actual service of the United States; he 
may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of 
the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of 
their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and 
pardons for offenses-against the United States, except in cases of 
impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present 
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers 
and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the 
United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided 
for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by 
law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think 
proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of 
departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions 
which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Sect. III. He shall from time to time give to the Congress infor¬ 
mation of the state of the Union, and recommend to their considera¬ 
tion such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he 
may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of 
them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the 
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall 
think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public minis¬ 
ters; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall 
commission all the officers of the United States. 

Sect. IV. The President, Vice-President and all civil officers of 
the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, 
and on conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and mis¬ 
demeanors. 


244 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


ARTICLE III . 

Section I. i. The judicial power of the United States shall be 
vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress 
may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the 
Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good be¬ 
havior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compen¬ 
sation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in 
office. 

Sect. II. i. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law 
and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made or which shall be made, under their author¬ 
ity; — to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and 
consuls; — to all cases of admiralty jurisdiction; — to controversies 
to which the United States shall be a party; — to controversies be¬ 
tween two or more States; — between a State and citizens of another 
State; — between citizens of different States; — between citizens of 
the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and 
between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or 
subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and 
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme 
Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before 
mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both 
as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations 
as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be 
by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes 
shall have been committed; but when not committed within any 
State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by 
law have directed. 

Sect. III. 1. Treason against the United States shall consist only 
in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless 
on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on con¬ 
fession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 


APPENDIX XII 


245 


treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or 
forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV 

Section I. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the 
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. 
And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which 
such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect 
thereof. 

Sect. II. 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall 
on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, 
be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the 
crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall 
be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor 
may be due. 

Sect. III. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into 
this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the 
jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junc¬ 
tion of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of 
the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all need¬ 
ful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property 
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall 
be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of 
any particular State. 

Sect. IV. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this 
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of 
them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the 
executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic 
violence. 


246 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


ARTICLE V 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the 
application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall 
call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case 
shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, 
when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, 
or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other 
mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided 
that no amendments which may be made prior to the year one thous¬ 
and eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and 
fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no 
State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the 
Senate. 

ARTICLE VI 

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United 
States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall 
be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall 
be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the su¬ 
preme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound 
thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judi¬ 
cial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall 
be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no 
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or 
public trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient 
for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so 
ratifying the same. 


APPENDIX XII 


247 


Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, 
the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven and of the Independence 
of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof 
we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

[Signed by] G° Washington 

Presidt and Deputy from Virginia 

Articles in Addition to and Amendment of the Constitution of 
the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and 

RATIFIED BY THE LEGISLATURES OF THE SEVERAL STATES, PUR¬ 
SUANT to the Fifth Article of the Original Constitution . 1 

Article I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establish¬ 
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peace¬ 
ably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of 
grievances. 

Article II. A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the se¬ 
curity of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, 
shall not be infringed. 

Article III. No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in 
any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but 
in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

Article IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seiz¬ 
ures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon proba¬ 
ble cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describ¬ 
ing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

Article V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or 
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 
grand jury except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor 
shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in 
jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case 
to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or 
1 The first ten Amendments were adopted in 1791. 


248 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be 
taken for public use without just compensation. 

Article VI. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy 
the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State 
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which dis¬ 
trict shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be in¬ 
formed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted 
with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for ob¬ 
taining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel 
for his defence. 

Article VII. In suits at common law, where the value in con¬ 
troversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be 
preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined 
in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the 
common law. 

Article VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive 
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain 
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by 
the people. 

Article X. The powers not delegated to the United States by 
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to 
the States respectively, or to the people. 

Article XI. The judicial power of the United States shall not 
be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another 
State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. [Adopted in 
1798.] 

Article XII. The electors shall meet in their respective States, 
and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at 
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; 
they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and 
in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they 
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all 
persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for 
each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to 
the seat of government of the United States, directed to the President 


APPENDIX XII 


249 


of the Senate; — the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of 
the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and 
the votes shall then be counted; — the person having the greatest 
number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number 
be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no 
person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest 
numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, 
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the 
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by 
States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds 
of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a 
choice. And if therflouse of Representatives shall not choose a Presi¬ 
dent whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the 
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act 
as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional dis¬ 
ability of the President. — The person having the greatest number of 
votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number 
be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no 
person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the 
list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the 
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, 
and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall 
be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. [Adopted 
in 1804.] 

Article XIII. Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary serv¬ 
itude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place 
subject to their jurisdiction. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. [Adopted in 1865.] 

Article XIV. Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of 
the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State 
shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State de- 


250 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


prive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protec¬ 
tion of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several 
States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole 
number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But 
when the right to vote at any election for the choice of Electors for 
President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives 
in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State, or the mem¬ 
bers of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants 
of such State, being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United 
States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or 
other crime, the basis of representation therein sh^l be reduced in the 
proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the 
whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Con¬ 
gress, or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, 
civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, 
having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an 
officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, 
or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or 
rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each house, 
remove such disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions 
and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall 
not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall 
assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection 
or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or 
emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims 
shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by appro¬ 
priate legislation the provisions of this article. [Adopted in 1867.] 

Article XV. Section 1. The right of citizens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or 
any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 


APPENDIX XII 


251 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
by appropriate legislation. [Adopted in 1870.] 

Article XVI. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect 
taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportion¬ 
ment among the several States, and without regard to any census or 
enumeration. [Adopted in 1913.] 

Article XVII. Section 1. The Senate of the United States shall 
be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people 
thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The 
electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for elec¬ 
tors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures. 

Section 2. When vacancies happen in the representation of any 
State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue 
writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided that the Legislature 
of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary 
appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the 
Legislature may direct. 

Section 3. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect 
the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as 
part of the Constitution. [Adopted in 1913.] 

Article XVIII. Section 1. After one year from the ratification 
of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating 
liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof 
from, the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited. 

Section 2. The Congress and the several States shall have con¬ 
current power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have 
been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures 
of the several States, as provided by the Constitution, within seven 
years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the 
Congress. [Adopted in 1919.] 

Article XIX. Section 1. The right of citizens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or 
by any State on account of sex. • 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
by appropriate legislation. [Adopted in 1920.I 


APPENDIX XIII 

TITLE III OF THE SPANISH CONSTITUTION 

Art. 20. The Senate shall be composed: 

1. Of Senators in their own right. 

2. Of life Senators appointed by the Crown. 

3. Of Senators elected by the corporations of the State and by 
the larger taxpayers, in the manner to be determined by law. 1 

The number of Senators in their own right and of life Senators 
shall not exceed one hundred and eighty. 

There shall be the same number of elected Senators. 

Art. 21. The following shall be Senators in their own right: 

The sons of the King and of the heir presumptive to the Throne, 
upon the attainment of their majority. 

Grandees of Spain in their own right, who are not subjects of 
another power and have a proven yearly income of 60,000 pesetas 
derived from real property. 

The captain generals of the army and the admiral of the navy. 

The Patriarch of the Indies and the archbishops. 

The presidents of the Council of State, of the Supreme Court, 
of the Court of Accounts of the Kingdom, of the Supreme Councils 
of War and of the Navy, after two years of service. 

Art. 22. Only the Spaniards who belong, or shall have belonged, 
to one of the following classes shall be Senators by royal appoint- 

1 The election of Senators was regulated by the law of February 8, 1877. 
The 180 elected Senators were chosen as follows: (1) One member by the 
clergy of each of the nine Archbishoprics, 9; (2) one by each of the six 
royal academies, 6; (3) one by each of the ten universities, 10; (4) five by 
the Economic Societies of the Friends of the Country, 5; (5) the remaining 
150 Senators were chosen by electoral colleges in each province. These 
colleges were composed of members of the provincial deputations and of 
representatives chosen from among the municipal councilors and largest 
taxpayers of the several towns and municipal districts. 

252 


APPENDIX XIII 


253 


ment, or through election by the corporations of tne State and the 
larger taxpayers: 

1. President of the Senate or of the Congress of Deputies. 

2. Deputies who shall have belonged to three different congresses, 
or who shall have served during eight sessions. 

3. Ministers of the Crown. 

4. Bishops. 

5. Grandees of Spain. 

6 . Lieutenant generals of the army and vice-admirals of the 
navy, two years after their appointment. 

7. Ambassadors, after two years of active service, and ministers 
plenipotentiary after four years of service. 

8. Councilors of State, the fiscal of that council, ministers, and 
fiscales of the Supreme Court and of the Court of Accounts of the 
Kingdom, supreme councilors of war and of the navy, and the dean 
of the Court of Military Orders, after two years of service. 

9. Presidents or directors of the Royal Academies, viz.: The 
Royal Spanish Academy; The Royal Academy of History; The 
Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando; The Royal Academy 
of Exact, Physical, and Natural Science; The Royal Academy of 
Moral and Political Science; and The Royal Academy of Medicine. 

10. Member of the aforesaid academies who shall in point of 
seniority come within the first half of the list of members of their 
respective bodies; first-class inspector generals of the Corps of 
Engineers of roads, mines, and forests; and head-professors of the 
universities, if they have held that rank and performed the duties 
thereof for four years. 

Persons included in the above categories must also have an an¬ 
nual income of 7500 pesetas, derived from property of their own, 
or from salaries of employments that can be lost only for cause legally 
proven, or from a pension, or retirement or dismissal account. 

11. Persons who for two years shall have possessed an annual 
income of 20,000 pesetas, or who shall have paid into the public 
treasury a direct tax of 4000 pesetas, if, in addition, they possess 
titles of nobility, or shall have been deputies to the Cortes, provincial 
deputies or mayors in capitals of provinces or in towns of more than 
20,000 inhabitants. 


254 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


12. Persons who shall have been Senators at any time before the 
promulgation of this Constitution. Those who, in order to become 
Senators, shall have proved their income at any time, may give 
evidence thereof, in order that it may be computed for them, upon 
their becoming Senators, in their own right, by certificates of the 
register of property, proving that they still own the same property. 

The appointment of Senators by the King shall be made by special 
decree, which shall always set forth the foundation upon which, in 
accordance with the provisions of this Article, the appointment is 
based. 

Art. 23. The qualifications necessary for the appointment or 
election of a Senator may be altered by law. 

Art. 24. One-half of the elected Senators shall be renewed 
every five years, and all shall be renewed when the King dissolves 
the elected part of the Senate. 

Art. 25. Senators shall not accept employment, promotion (ex¬ 
cept that governed strictly by seniority), titles, or decorations during 
the sessions of the Cortes. 

However, the government may confer upon them, within the 
sphere of their respective posts or ranks, such commissions as the 
public service may require. 

The office of minister of the Crown is excepted from the provisions 
of the first paragraph of this Article. 

Art. 26. To become a Senator one must be a Spaniard, have 
completed the age of thirty-five years, not have been subjected to 
criminal proceedings, nor have been deprived of the exercise of his 
political rights, and have the free management of his property. 


APPENDIX XIV 

TITLE I OF THE SPANISH CONSTITUTION 
Spaniards and their Rights 

Art. i. The following are Spaniards: 

1. Persons born in Spanish territory. 

2. Children of a Spanish father or mother, although born outside 
of Spain. 

3. Foreigners who have obtained papers of naturalization. 

4. Foreigners who without such papers have acquired a residence 
in any town of the Kingdom. 

Spaniards lose their nationality by becoming naturalized in a 
foreign country, or by entering the service of another government 
without the permission of the King. 

Art. 2. Foreigners may freely establish themselves in Spanish 
territory, may exercise their calling therein, and may practice any 
profession for the exercise of which the laws do not require certifi¬ 
cates of fitness issued by Spanish authorities. 

Persons not naturalized cannot hold in Spain any office con¬ 
ferring authority or jurisdiction. 

Art 3. Every Spaniard is under obligation to bear arms in the 
defense of the country when called upon by law, and to contribute, 
in proportion to his wealth, toward the expenses of the State, of the 
province, and of the municipality. 

No person shall be required to pay a tax which has not been voted 
by the Cortes, or by a corporation legally authorized to impose the 
same. 

Art. 4. No Spaniard or foreigner shall be arrested except in 
the cases and in the manner prescribed by law. 

Every person arrested shall be set at liberty or handed over to 
the judicial authority within twenty-four hours after his arrest. 

Every arrest shall be without effect, or shall be converted into 

255 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


256 

imprisonment within seventy-two hours of the delivery of the ar¬ 
rested person to a competent judge. 

The action taken in the matter shall be made known to the in¬ 
terested party within the same time. 

Art. 5. No Spaniard shall be imprisoned except by virtue of an 
order of a competent judge. 

The writ containing the order (of arrest) shall be approved or 
annulled, after a hearing of the suspected offender, within seventy- 
two hours after the arrest. 

Every person detained or imprisoned without the legal formalities, 
or in cases not provided by the Constitution and the laws, shall 
be set at liberty on the petition of himself or of any Spaniard. 
The law shall provide the form of summary procedure in such 
cases. 

Art. 6. No one shall enter the house of a Spaniard or of a for¬ 
eigner resident in Spain, without his consent, except in the cases 
and in the manner expressly provided by law. 

The examination of papers and effects shall always take place in 
the presence of the interested party or of a member of his family, 
and in default thereof, in the presence of two witnesses from the 
same town. 

Art. 7. Correspondence entrusted to the post shall not be de¬ 
tained or opened by the government authorities. 

Art. 8. Every order for imprisonment, for the search of domi¬ 
cile, or for the detention of correspondence shall contain a state¬ 
ment of the cause of its issuance. 

Art. 9. No Spaniard shall be compelled to change his domicile 
or residence except by virtue of the order of a competent authority, 
and in the cases provided by law. 

Art. 10. The penalty of confiscation of property shall never 
be imposed, and no one shall be deprived of his property except by 
competent authority, and for a proved cause of public utility, always 
after due compensation. 

If this requirement is not fulfilled, the judges shall protect the 
dispossessed person and, in such case, shall return the property to his 
possession. 

Art. 11. The Apostolic Roman Catholic religion is the religion 


APPENDIX XIV 


257 


of the State. The nation binds itself to maintain this religion and 
its ministers. 

No one shall be molested in Spanish territory on account of his 
religious opinions, or for the exercise of his particular form of wor¬ 
ship, provided he show the respect due to Christian morality. 

Ceremonies and public manifestations other than those of the 
State religion, however, shall not be permitted. 

Art. 12. Everyone shall be free to choose his profession and to 
learn it as he may think best. 

Any Spaniard may found and maintain institutions of instruction 
or of education, in conformity with the law. 

The State shall have the power to issue professional diplomas, and 
to determine the qualifications of those who desire to obtain them, 
and the manner in which such persons shall prove their fitness there¬ 
for. 

A special law shall determine the duties of teachers and the rules 
to which teaching is to be subjected in the institutions of public 
instruction supported by the State, the provinces or the munici¬ 
palities. 

Art. 13. Every Spaniard shall have the right: 

To give free expression to his ideas and opinions, either verbally 
. or in writing, through the medium of the press or of any other similar 
process, without subjection to previous censorship. 

To hold peaceful meetings. 

To become a member of associations for the purpose of promoting 
the objects of human life. 

To address petitions, either individually or with others, to the 
King, to the Cortes, or to the authorities. 

The right of petition shall not be exercised by any kind of armed 
force. 

Those who form a part of an armed force shall not exercise in¬ 
dividually the right of petition, except in accordance with the laws 
of their organization, in regard to matters relating thereto. 

Art. 14. Proper rules shall be provided by law to secure to 
Spaniards the mutual observance of the rights recognized in this 
title, without detriment to the rights of the nation or to the essential 
attributes of public authority. 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


258 

The law shall also determine the civil and penal liability incurred 
by judges, officers, and functionaries of all classes who attempt to 
violate the rights enumerated in this title. 

Art. 15. All Spaniards shall be eligible to public offices and em¬ 
ployments, according to their merit and capacity. 

Art. 16. No Spaniard shall be tried or sentenced except by the 
proper judge or court, by virtue of laws passed prior to the offense, 
and in the manner prescribed therein. 

Art. 17. The guaranties expressed in Arts. 4, 5, 6 and 9, and in 
the first, second, and third paragraphs of Art 13 shall not be sus¬ 
pended throughout the Kingdom, or in any portion thereof, except 
temporarily and by means of a law, when, in extraordinary cir¬ 
cumstances, the security of the State may require it. 

When the Cortes is not in session and the case is grave and clearly 
urgent, the government, upon its own responsibility, may order the 
suspension of the guaranties mentioned in the previous paragraph, 
submitting its action to the approval of the Cortes as soon as possible. 

But in no case shall other guaranties than those mentioned in 
the first paragraph of this article be suspended. 

Nor shall the military or civil authorities have power to establish 
any other penalty than that previously prescribed by law. 


GLOSSARY 

OF IMPORTANT TERMS USED IN THE BOOK 
A 

Acquittal. Discharge from accusation by judicial action. 

Act. A law passed by a legislative body. 

Action. A judicial proceeding for the enforcement or protection 
of a right, the redress or prevention of a wrong, or the punish¬ 
ment of a public offense. 

Adjournment. Act of suspending or postponing a meeting. 

Administration. Management of public affairs; government 
of the country. A work is done by administration when it is 
directed by public officials. 

Admiralty. The name of a jurisdiction which takes charge of 
cases which arise out of maritime affairs and of crimes com¬ 
mitted on the high seas. 

Affirmation. A solemn declaration that one will tell the truth, 
made by one conscientiously opposed to taking a judicial 
oath. 

Alien. A resident foreigner not naturalized. 

Ambassador. A diplomatic officer of the highest rank com¬ 
missioned to represent his government in a foreign country. 

Appellate jurisdiction. Jurisdiction in cases of appeal. 

Appropriate (to). To set apart a sum of money for some definite 
use. Money thus set apart is an appropriation. 

Assess (to). To determine the value of property for purposes 
of taxation. Such valuations are called assessments. 

Attachment. Seizure of money or property by virtue of a 
legal process, to secure payment of a debt. 

259 


26 o 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Attainder, Bill of. Bill condemning a person to death and the 
loss of civil and political rights without due process of law. 

Auction. A public sale of property to the highest bidder. 

B 

Bail. Security given for the appearance of a prisoner in order 
to obtain his release. 

Bailiff. Judicial officer who executes the orders of a court, 
generally a peace court. 

Ballot. A piece of paper or other thing used in voting. 

Bankrupt. One whom the law has formally declared as unable 
to pay his debts. 

Bids, Calls for. Invitations to contractors to state sum for 
which they will undertake to do a specific piece of work. 

Bill. Draft of a law proposed to a legislature. 

Bill of Rights. A summary of the rights and privileges of the 
people. 

Bona-fide. In or with good faith; real; actual; genuine. 

Bond. A written promise to pay a specified sum of money if 
an employee, guaranteed by the document, fails to discharge 
his duties faithfully; a promise to pay, used by governments 
and corporations, to borrow money. 

Budget. An estimate of money needed to carry on the govern¬ 
ment. The regular budget is based on the ordinary income 
of the government. The additional budget is generally made 
with the surplus remaining at the end of the fiscal year. 
See Surplus. 


C 

Canvassing board. A committee to examine the results of 
elections. 

Capital offense. A crime punishable with death. 

Capitation tax. A tax levied on individuals. 


GLOSSARY 


261 


Casting vote. The decisive vote of the presiding officer when 
the votes of a deliberative body are equally divided. 

Challenge (to). To question the right of a person to vote. 

Civil register. A record of the marriages, births, and deaths of 
a community. 

Commission (to). To issue a document to a person conferring 
on him authority to perform certain acts. 

Comptroller. A public officer whose duty is to examine and 
certify accounts. 

Concurrent jurisdiction. Joint and equal in authority to try 
certain cases. See Jurisdiction. 

Consul. An officer sent to a foreign country to represent his 
government in certain matters. His chief duty is to protect 
the commerce of his country. 

Conviction. A judgment that the person accused is guilty. 

Corporate capacity. The legal standing of a corporation. 

Corruption of blood. An old legal disability which prevented 
traitors and felons from inheriting or bequeathing real prop¬ 
erty. 

Costs. Expenses incurred in litigation. 

Counter-challenge. Reply to a challenge. See Challenge. 

Coupon bond. A bond with interest certificates (coupons) 
attached. Interest on bonds is generally paid every six 
months. Each coupon represents the amount of interest 
due. 

D 

Deficit. An unfavorable balance between receipts and ex- ' 
penditures. 

Delinquency. Failure or omission of duty. 

Differential duty. A duty which is not imposed equally upon 
the same products imported from different countries. 

Duty. A sum of money imposed by the government on 
goods. 



262 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


E 

Election precinct. A district for elections. 

Elector. One who has the right to vote; one chosen to cast 
a vote for the President and Vice-President of the United 
States. 

Emolument. Remuneration. 

Encumber (to). To load with debts. 

Equity. The correction of the law where it is defective in par¬ 
ticular cases; redress of a wrong. 

Estimate. An approximate calculation, generally, of cost. 

Evidence. Proof submitted to a court to ascertain the truth 
of alleged facts. 

Excise. Duty on home commodities. 

Ex-officio. By virtue of an office. 

Ex post facto law. A law intended, to punish an offense after it 
has been committed. 


F 

Felony. A crime punishable with imprisonment or death. 

Finance. The science of raising and expending the public 
revenue. 

Fine. Payment of money imposed as a punishment for an 
offense. 

Forfeiture. Losing one’s possessions as a penalty for crime. 

Franchise. The right to vote; a particular privilege granted 
by the government to one or various individuals. 

Franking privilege. A privilege enjoyed by members of Con¬ 
gress and a limited number of important public officers to 
mail their correspondence without attaching the required 
stamps. 

H 

Habeas Corpus. A written order issued by a court or by a 
magistrate for the purpose of bringing a person before a 


GLOSSARY 263 

court or a judge to inquire into the cause of the person’s 
imprisonment. 

High seas. The ocean beyond the limit of three miles from the 
shore. 

I 

Immunity. Freedom from duty or penalty granted by law. 

Impeachment. An arraignment of a public officer under a 
written accusation of crime or misdemeanor for which he 
should be removed from office. 

Impost. Tax; duty. 

Income. The annual receipts of a private person, a corporation, 
or a government, from property, taxes, etc. 

Incumbency. The state of holding a public office. 

Indebtedness. Debts. 

In fraganti. In the act. 

Injunction. An order issued by a court requiring a person to 
do or to refrain from doing certain acts. 

Insurrection. A rising of individuals to prevent the execution 
of law by force of arms. 

Internal revenue. The revenue derived from the sale of tobacco 
and the manufacture of alcohol. 

Involuntary servitude. Service under compulsion. 

J 

Journal. A record of proceedings. 

Judgment. A decision reached by a court. 

Jurisdiction. The limit within which power may be exercised. 

Jury. A number of men (generally twelve) to decide the issue 
in any case at law. 


L 

Lease (to). To grant the possession of lands, houses, etc. 
Legal tender. Money authorized by law for the payment of 
debts. 


264 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


Letter of marque and reprisal. A license or special commission 
granted by a government to its subjects to take the property 
of a foreign state or of its citizens or subjects for injuries sup¬ 
posed to have been received. 

Loan. A sum of money borrowed or lent at interest. 

M 

Majority. More than half. 

Malfeasance. The doing of an act which a person ought not 
to do. 

Maritime quarantine. The detention of a vessel, its .crew, 
passengers and cargo to prevent the spread of infection. 

Marshal. A judicial officer who performs various duties. 

Martial law. The law administered by the military power of a 
government. 

Mercenary. A soldier hired for foreign service. 

Militia. A body of volunteers which may be called for military 
service in emergencies. 

Misdemeanor. A crime less than felony. 

Moral turpitude. Depravity. 

Mortgage (to). To grant property for the security of a debt. 

N 

Naturalization. The process by which -an alien becomes a 
citizen. 


O 

Oath of allegiance. A solemn declaration to obey and uphold 
the laws of the country. 

Ordinance. A law passed by the legislative body of a munici¬ 
pality. 

Original jurisdiction. Authority to try a cause for the first 
time. 


GLOSSARY 


265 


P 

Parliamentary law. The rules which govern the usages of 
deliberative bodies. 

Patronate of the Indies. The right which the Crown had, and 
exercised through its representative in America, to nominate 
candidates with proper qualifications for bishoprics and other 
church offices. 

Per diem. A daily allowance for food and lodging granted to 
public officers when they are absent from their headquarters 
on public business. 

Personal property. Movable property, such as money, jewels, 
etc. 

Piracy. Robbery on the high seas. 

Plenipotentiary. A diplomatic officer invested with full powers 
to negotiate for his government. 

Plurality. The greatest of two or more numbers, whether it bd 
a majority or not. 

Political affiliation. Membership in a political party. 

Port of entry. A harbor where a customhouse has been es¬ 
tablished for the legal entry of merchandise. 

Posse comitatus. The citizens who may be summoned to 
assist the authorities in suppressing a riot or executing any 
legal precept which is forcibly opposed. 

Preferential duty. A duty imposed on reduced rates. 

Proceedings. The record of business transacted in a meeting. 

Public carrier. One who carries persons or goods for hire, like 
a railroad. 

Public utility. Public usefulness. The term is also applied to 
certain private enterprises which serve the general public, 
such as lightning, transportation, telephone, and other com¬ 
panies. 

Q 

Qualification. Requisites to hold office. 

Quorum. A sufficient number to transact business. 


266 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


R 

Rates. Fixed prices, as the rates of transportation. 

Ratification. The act of confirming. 

Real estate. Unmovable property, such as lands, buildings, etc. 

Real property. Unmovable property, such as lands, houses, 
mines, etc. 

Rebellion. Open resistance to lawful authority. 

Redemption. Payment of a debt represented by notes, bonds 
or other evidences of indebtedness. 

Registered bond. A bond recorded by number in the name of 
the owner, on the books of the government or corporation 
that issued it. It does not have coupons attached. See 
Bond and Coupon bond. 

Registrar of property. An officer who records the deeds to 
property. 

Registration. The act of enrolling for the purpose of voting. 

Regulations. Rules. 

Reimbursement. The act of paying back money advanced or 
illegally disbursed. 

Religious test. An examination to determine the religious 
beliefs of a candidate for the purpose of accepting or rejecting 
him. 

Reprieve. Temporary suspension of a sentence. 

Resolution. Something determined upon by the vote of an 
assembly, distinguished from a bill. 

Revenue. The annual yield of taxes, excise, customs, duties, 
etc., which a nation, state, or municipality collects for public 
use. 

S 

Schedule. A list of prices. 

Secession. Act of withdrawing or separating. 

Securities. Written or printed promises for payment of money. 
Bonds are securities. 


GLOSSARY 267 

Seizure. The act of seizing or taking possession of something. 

Seniority. Priority of entrance in the public service. 

Statute. An act of a legislative body. 

Sufficiency of surety. Adequacy of the amount of money 
stated in a bond. 

Suffrage. A vote; the right of voting. 

Suit. A judicial action for recovery of a right or redress of a 
wrong. 

Surcharge. Increase. 

Surplus. An amount in the public treasury at any time greater 
than is required for the ordinary purposes of the government. 

Surtax. An extra tax. 


T 

Tally sheet. Strips of paper used to compute the votes cast 
in an election. 

Tariff. A system of duties imposed by the government on goods 
coming into the country. 

Tax. A sum of money imposed upon persons or property for 
the support of the government. 

Test. A standard of judgment. 

Treaty. A compact, between two or more nations or sovereigns, 
drawn in legal form. 

Trust fund. A special fund set aside for a specific purpose and 
not available for any other object. 


U 

Usufruct. The right of using and enjoying the profits of a piece 
of property or some other thing belonging to another. 

V 

Veto. The refusal of the executive to sign a bill passed by the 
legislative body. 


268 


PORTO RICO CIVICS 


W 

Warrant. A judicial order authorizing arrests, searches, or 
seizures. 

Writ. A written order issued by a court or a magistrate. 

Writ of certiorary. A written order issued by a superior court 
to an inferior tribunal calling up the records of the latter or 
removing a cause pending there, in the interests of justice. 

Writ of election. An official announcement of elections to be 
held. 

Writ of mandamus. A written order issued by a superior court 
to some inferior tribunal, or to some corporation or person 
exercising authority, commanding the performance of some 
specified duty. 

Y 

Yeas and nays. A vote by roll call in which each member 
answers yea or nay as his name is called. 


INDEX 


This index does not cover the Appendices. 


Accounting, 23 
Alienation of lots, 30 
American Bill of Rights, 43 
Appropriations, 51 
Associate Justices, 65 
Attorney General, 15, 17, 28, 57 
Auditor of Porto Rico, 15, 17, 23, 62 
Autonomy Chart, 96-111 

Bail, 44 

Barrio Concejo, 72 
Bids, 4 

Bill of attainder, 44 
Bill of Rights, 45 
Blind Asylum, 62 
Board of Award, 3 
Board of Dentistry, 69 
Board of Medical Examiners, 69 
Board of Pharmacy, 69 
Bonds, 15, 77 
Boys’ Charity School, 62 
Budget, 18 

Budget limitations, 20 

Call for bids, 2 
Canvassing board, 47 
Carnegie Library, 68 
Chamber of Representatives, 96-1 x 1 
Chief Justice, 68 
Chief of Police, 69 
Citizenship, 69 
Civil Service Commission, 67 
Classified Civil Service, 67 
Cloture rule, 94 
Colonial statute, 101 
College of Agriculture, 68 

269 


College of Law, 68 
College of Liberal Arts, 68 
College of Pharmacy, 68 
Commissioner of Agriculture and 
Labor, 61 

Commissioner of Education, 18, 31, 
60 

Commissioner of Health, 2, 27, 61 
Commissioner of the Interior, 30, 59 
Congress, 44, 87-95 
Consolidation of municipal de¬ 
partments, 11, 18 

Constitution of the United States, 
87-95 
Costs, 22 

Council of Administration, 3, 4, 
10-17, 97»* bond requisite, 15; 
duties of members, 15; limit¬ 
ations, 15; meetings, 14; mem¬ 
bership, 11; powers, 14; quali¬ 
fications, 12, 14; resignation of 
members, 14; salary of members, 
14; substitutes, 15; tenure, 16 
Councilors, 97 

Deficit, 20 

Democratic Party, 94 
District courts, 65 
District political divisions, 71 
Department of Agriculture and 
Labor, 61 

Department of Education, 59 
Department of Finance, 58 
Department of Health, 61 
Department of the Interior, 59 
Department of Justice, 57 





2 JO 


INDEX 


Elections, 6, 70, 71, 93 
Employment of children, 46 
Excise, 22 

Executive Council, 10, 19, 21, 28, 
47 . 56 

Executive Secretary, 57, 63 
Ex-post-Jacto law, 44 

Federal House of Representatives, 
87-95 

Federal Senate, 54, 87-95 
Fines, 22 

Foraker Act, 47, 69, 96-111 
Franking privilege, 88 
Freedom of the press, 45 

General Supervisor of Elections, 70 
Girls’ Charity School, 62 
Governor, x, 8, 23, 28, 52-70 
Grants of lots, 23 

Habeas Corpus, 44, 65, 66 
House of Representatives of Porto 
Rico, 9, 47, 87 
How bills become laws, 52 

Impost, 22 

Imprisonment for debt, 44 

Indebtedness, 4 

Injunction, 29 

Insane Asylum, 62 

Institute of Tropical Medicine, 69 

Insular Board of Elections, 70 

Insular Experiment Station, 61 

Insular Parliament, 99 

Insular Police, 69 

Insular Police Commission, 69 

Insular Senate, 8, 46, 48 

Insular senators, 46 

Insular senators-at-large, 47 

Insular representatives, 47 

Insular representatives-at-large, 47 

Involuntary servitude, 45 

Judicial remedies, 28 
Justice courts, 66 


Legislature of Porto Rico, 1, 8, 19, 
43-72; limitations, 49; powers, 
48; sessions, 48; vacancies, 48 
Leper Colony, 62 
License taxes, 22 
Loans, 4 

Mandamus, 66 
Mileage, 88 
Morril fund, 68 

Municipal Assembly, 5-30; ab¬ 
sences, 8; compensation of mem¬ 
bers, 9; compulsory attendance, 
7; limitations, 8; membership, 
6; meetings, 6; place of meet¬ 
ing, 7; powers, 9; qualifications 
of members, 6; quorum, 7; 
record of proceedings, 9; resig¬ 
nations, 8; vacancies, 8 
Municipal Auditor, 10, 17, 18, 29 
Municipal Commissioner of Chari¬ 
ties, 12, 13 

Municipal Commissioner of Fi¬ 
nance, 12, 13, 15 

Municipal Commissioner of Public 
Education, 12, 13, 31 
Municipal Commissioner of Public 
Service, Police and Prisons, 3, 10, 
11, 30 

Municipal Commissioner of Public 
Works, 12, 13 
Municipal Courts, 66 
Municipal finance, 18 
Municipal law, 1-30 
Municipal Secretary, 3,10,17, 26, 29 
Municipalities, 1-30; amount of 
indebtedness, 5; classification, 1; 
disposal of property, 5; in¬ 
spection expenses, 5; jurisdiction 
5; loans, 4; provisions common to 
all, 1; public works, 2; rate of 
interest, 4; special limitations, 2 

National conventions, 94 
Naturalization, 70 
Normal School, 68 



INDEX 


Obligation of contracts, 44 
Offices filled by election, 71 
Ordinances, 26 

Organic Act, 8, 12, 17, 18, 29, 31, 
43-72 

Outline of the municipal law, 32- 
37 

Outline of the organic law, 72-80 

Peace courts, 26 
Political parties, 94 
Polygamous marriages, 46 
Posse comitatus, 55 
Practice School, 68 
President’s Cabinet, 95 
Problems, 37, 80 
Public cleaning, 2 

Public Service Commission, 47, 56, 

63 

Public works, 2 

Qualifications of voters, 71 
Quarantine Hospital, 62 
Quorum, 7 

Rate of interest, 4 
Religious test, 45 
Republican Party, 94 
Resident Commissioner, 53 
Revenues, 20 
Rural zone service, 23 


Salaries, 10, 20, 29 
Sanitary ordinances, 27 
Sanitation service, 2 
School bands, 10 
School district, 31 
School Tax, 18, 22 
Searches, 45 
Seizures, 45 
Slavery, 45 
Special teachers, 32 
Supervisors of schools, 32 
Supreme Court, 64 

Taxation, 46 
Tax exemption, 21 
Tax surcharge, 21 
Teachers of English, 32 
Title of nobility, 44 
Treasurer of Porto Rico, 28, 58 

United States District Court, 
55 , 66 

University High School, 68 
University of Porto Rico, 67 

Veto, 52 
Villages, 30 

Warrant for arrest, 45 
Writ of certiorary, 29 
Writ of mandamus, 29 









































































































































































5 



































































